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Foreign Affairs Ministry: Slovakia Supports Further Enlargement of EU
Tuesday 23 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 23 (TASR) - EU enlargement is one of the most successful projects in Europe and has brought more stability and economic strength to the Union, and Slovakia therefore supports further enlargement during Spain's current presidency and the next two periods presided over by Belgium and Hungary, reads a document drawn up by the Foreign Affairs Ministry submitted to the Cabinet session on Thursday.
Among prominent issues for Slovakia in this period will be the Western Balkans, its integration efforts and the conclusion of accession talks with Croatia as early as this year. Slovakia also backs beginning accession talks with other candidates, such as Macedonia, although the pre-accession criteria have to be met. The aforementioned three presiding countries will also deal with requests for entry submitted by Albania, Iceland and Montenegro.
As for Slovakia's membership of the Union, the state "must focus on preparing quality projects and, if possible, ensuring the full drawing of EU funds". The ministry notes that Eurofunds can help to remove regional disparities in Slovakia and to boost science and innovation.
In the sphere of the climate and environment, Slovakia will promote ambitious goals, including the reduction of emissions, but not at the expense of the competitiveness of both the national and EU economies. Slovakia will therefore pursue the idea of a 'national energy mix' that includes the use of nuclear energy as one of the elements in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
"It is important for Slovakia that the Union supports projects that would bring a real diversification of (natural-gas) transport routes and resources," states the document.
During the aforementioned three presidency periods, the Union should also focus on the implementation of the Stockholm Programme (which deals with criminal and civil law co-operation, asylum, migration and visa policy for the 2010–14 period) and the EU 2020 strategy, which is intended to enable the EU to make a full recovery from the economic crisis.
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