MUNICH – Enlargement is the EU’s key policy and represents a geostrategic investment in a strong Europe, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said at the Munich Security Conference 2020.
According to him, “Europe that protects” is one of the four main priorities of the Croatian EU presidency, as the EU faces an asylum and migration crisis with consequences on the political system and the mood of EU citizens.
“One of Croatia’s concrete measures will be to propose strategic guidelines on the area of freedom, security and justice. The guidelines will have four main elements: the rule of law, mutual trust, territorial integrity, mastery of new technologies and artificial intelligence,” Plenković said.
The Croatian Prime Minister said that this issue should also be discussed with Western Balkan partners, but stressed that the discussion should go beyond this topic.
“Enlargement policy is the key policy of the EU. This is a geostrategic investment in a strong Europe. In order to strengthen the European perspective on the Western Balkans, we will organize the Western Balkans Summit in May 2020,” Plenković said.
He added that it is a clear signal that the Western Balkan neighbors are on the Council’s agenda while Croatia holds the EU presidency.
“Leaders must unite and not divide societies”
Slovak President Zuzana Caputová said that Europe had forgotten that democracy is above all a matter of the spirit of freedom, justice and solidarity and not just birocracy.
“For me, the EU is a community of values whose strength comes from these values. The rule of law requires strong institutions, active citizens and law-abiding leaders,” she explained.
Čaputová stressed that the EU needs political responsibility from leaders in establishing the rules, that is, laws that guarantee freedom and stability.
“We also need personal and moral value from political leaders, which means voluntary separation from power,” Čaputová said.
The Slovak president also spoke about the societal concerns of today’s Europe regarding the rise of populism and the role of political leaders in this regard.
“Political leaders must protect minorities and promote respect, renounce extremism and reject populism. Leaders must unite and not divide society,” she concluded.
“Citizens must be included in the Conference on the Future of Europe”
European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová said that two main topics will be discussed at the planned conference on the future of Europe.
“The first topic is the EU electoral system and the other topics will focus on how the EU could be more sovereign and stronger, how to manage the digital transformation, the green transformation, respect for values and resolution of security concerns,” she said.
She also mentioned that the aim is not to have a debate only between politicians, but to discuss the future of Europe with citizens.
“We want to create a digital tool to improve communication with citizens and invite national parliaments to join the debate in order to work responsibly and transparently,” Jourová emphasized.
“Choosing solidarity rather than responsibility was a mistake”
Margaritis Schinas, European Commission vice-president for promoting the European way of life, said that in the past the EU paid more attention to solidarity than responsibility, referring to the crisis of migrants.
“This should be a change in the new European pact on immigration and asylum, where we have to find a fair balance between the two,” he stressed.
Schinas also said that EU security faced fragmentation and lack of trust, and that the EU needed to be strengthened to deal with migration issues, by putting in place robust control of external borders.
“We need a mechanism for burden-sharing and solidarity with countries that are at the frontier of the immigration wave,” Schinas explained, adding that 5G and artificial intelligence are among the issues that the EU must face.