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Ambassador Jan Gabor on the priorities of the Slovak Presidency in the EU Council of Ministers
Ambassador of the Slovak Republic in Bucharest Jan Gabor said on Thursday that his country will continue to invest in the European project, mentioning that Slovakia, which has taken over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, will not be a mere crisis manager, but a credible player as well.
The diplomat spoke of Slovakia's priorities in this capacity. Joining him at a press conference organised in Bucharest were Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister Lazar Comanescu and head of the European Commission Representation to Romania Angela Cristea.
"Back to Europe" was the main credo of the velvet revolution. (...) Today we call the European Union our home. The Presidency is the pinnacle of our track," Jan Gabor said.
The ambassador mentioned that his country is taking over the presidency at a time when the EU is confronted with a series of serious crises, with the Brexit and the migration issue counting among them.
According to the ambassador, these elements will be assessed in detail at the EU Summit in Bratislava, due in mid-September. In this context, Gabor said, his country isn't planning on disseminating the defeat sentiment against the background of the issues challenging the EU.
"We must continue to invest in the European project. (...) The European Union is the most successful peace project," Jan Gabor said.
One of Slovakia's priorities in this mandate is the creation of sustainable policies on migration — a phenomenon which put huge pressure on the Union, the diplomat said.
"We don't want our role to be that of a mere crisis manager. (...) Drawing highly-skilled migrants anywhere is a need for our economies. (...) We consider Romania to be one of Slovakia's closest allies," he added.
In his opinion, narrowing down migration talks to the compulsory quota that should be hosted by the EU countries isn't fair.
He said that the discussion on migration must include the strengthening of EU borders and implicitly of the Schengen Area. "The Schengen Area practically ended the Cold War," the diplomat considers.
Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu said that Slovakia is taking over the helm of the EU Council in a complex, complicated period, when the Union is confronted with unprecedented situations. He assured that Romania will closely support Slovakia in this context.
"Insisting on the importance of a more cohesive Union is very important. (...) One of the strong points, maybe the most important, of the European project consisted of the capacity to overcome crises," Comanescu added.
The Foreign Minister said that the EU must prove, at these times, both credibility and solidarity.
"We have no alternative if we want the EU to truly work as a global agreement that matters," Lazar Comanescu added.
The Romanian Foreign Affairs Minister said that in order to be credible, the EU must also supply concrete results.
"It is very important that all these meetings bring forth concrete results. The lack of results is one of the factors that risk affecting the EU. (...) We have been debating in the EU the migration issue for almost two years, but the results are yet to come. Migration will continue to be a challenge to the European Union. The Slovak Presidency commits to sustainable solutions," Comanescu said.
In the context of the strengthening of the security of EU external borders, Comanescu spoke of the importance of Romania's Schengen accession.
"A Romania inside the Schengen Area would be a factor consolidating the EU's capacity of rendering its borders secure. The fact alone that Romania is currently the second most important FRONTEX contributor (...) speaks for itself," the Romanian Foreign Minister showed.