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| Ružička on a Working Visit in Berlin |
| Berlín, 05.06.2019 |
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| During the second day (4 June) of his working visit to the Federal Republic of Germany, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic František Ružička talked to Uwe Corsepius, the Advisor on Foreign Policy to the Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. In addition he met with his counterpart Minister of State for Europe Michael Roth and gave an address at the events organized by the non-governmental organizations, the ECFR and the Aspen Institute.
The issues regarding the Strategic Agenda setting EU priorities for the next 5 years, the future EU budget in the form of the multiannual financial framework, as well the opening of accession talks with Northern Macedonia and Albania dominate the current European agenda. Therefore, these issues naturally resonated during the talks with Uwe Corsepius, Foreign Policy Advisor in the Chancellor’s cabinet.
As for the question of EU enlargement, the State Secretary’s core message was that the EU should act strategically and have enough courage to adopt political decisions that will influence not only the Western Balkans region but also the global position of the Union. In this regard Ružička stated: “The best tool for the stabilization of our neighborhood is to maintain a credible enlargement policy. If the EU does not reflect the positive development in the region by sending a clear message about the opening of accession talks, we ourselves will weaken the Union in the eyes of our closest partners. Moreover, we can observe that nowadays several countries to the east of Europe are ready to take over our strategic position in the region.” In this context Germany has a decisive role since it was also instrumental inr the countries of Central Eastern Europe achieving their European aspiration 15 years ago. “Nowadays, we feel that it is our turn to help the countries in the region so that the door to the EU remains open,” added Ružička.
During the working visit, the State Secretary also met with his counterpart Michael Roth, and together they opened the V4+Germany discussion forum, which is organized by the Aspen Institute. Ružička highlighted the close interconnection of the Central European countries with Germany: “Not many people know that the V4 is the most important trade partner for Germany with the turnover of EUR 294 billion. Only after the V4 comes China as an economic power with EUR 199 billion in trade – though most would assume that this country ranked first in this category. This fact only demonstrates the need for our intensive cooperation not only in the sphere of economy but also in that of politics. For 15 years we have been equal partners jointly deciding about our future. It is normal that sometimes we have different points of view; however, it is important to listen to each other and search for areas of common interest.”
Besides this, the State Secretary also gave an address at the working breakfast organized by the European think-tank European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Together with the analysts and experts on foreign policy, they evaluated the results of the elections to the European Parliament, as well as the future of Europe in the context of the ongoing Brexit talks.
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