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| Minister Lajčák in Budapest: “Europe without the Western Balkans will not be complete” |
| Budapest, 06.11.2013 |
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| The Slovak Republic strongly supports the Euro-integration ambitions of the Western Balkan states. “Europe will never be complete and unified without countries of the Western Balkans,” said Miroslav Lajčák, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, in the discussion at a joint meeting of foreign ministers of V4 and six states of the Western Balkans, with participation of the heads of diplomacy of Lithuania, Austria and Turkey in the Gödollö mansion near Budapest on 31 October. He also accentuated the necessity to meet the required criteria on the part of those countries. “It just does not work without doing one’s homework. EU citizens have to believe that expansion makes sense. It must be felt from the Western Balkans that joining the EU is their priority,” Lajčák added.
The topics of the meeting also included instruments to assist the transformation processes in respective Western Balkan states and the security situation in the region. A joint statement was signed by the ministers at the conclusion of the meeting in which they avowed on-going support for the process of EU integration based on the principles of trustworthiness, consistency and conditionality. They supported the setting of the beginning of accession negotiations with Serbia in January 2014 at the latest, appreciated progress made by Montenegro on its way to the EU, and reiterated their preparedness to share their integration process experience with the Western Balkan states. (The wording of the statement is available on the Ministry’s SR website).
Minister Lajčák also participated in a meeting of the ministers of the Central European Initiative at which he evaluated two and a half decades in the operation of this platform for regional cooperation. He promoted an extension of its agenda and adjustment of its priorities to maximize is efficiency. “We need to pay much more attention to topics such as sustainable development, transport infrastructure, environmental protection and energy security,” Lajčák stated.
On the occasion of the Budapest meeting, the head of Slovak diplomacy met Victoria Nuland, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, and discussed the mutual relationship between Slovakia and the USA as well as other timely foreign policy topics, especially the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership.
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Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
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