site.btaUPDATED EU May Well Remain World's Only Island of Values and Democracy, Says Enlargement Commissioner

The European Union (EU) may well remain the only island of values and democracy in the world, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said here Thursday. She was among the speakers at the EU Meets the Balkans forum in Sofia.

The event is organized by the European Liberal Forum, the ALDE Party, and the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria. Among the attendees are Vice President Iliana Iotova, Sofia Mayor Vasil Terziev, representatives from Turkiye, Romania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Montenegro. Bulgarian MPs and policy experts are also present.

She said that “our world has changed fundamentally in the last couple of months” and that for the first time in its history, the EU is holding integration talks with a country - Ukraine - that is at war. “For the first time, for the candidate countries it is not just about fulfilling the conditions to become a member, it is not just about the EU being ready to accept new members. We are confronted with external disruptive forces that want to see us fail,” she said. 

Commissioner Kos said that Europe has “effectively entered a phase in which geopolitical competition and outright aggression in our immediate neighbourhood are undermining our efforts to consolidate democracy and threaten to transform Europe into a battleground of competing interests”.

According to her, what the EU offers is entirely positive: economic strength, democratic institutions, and rule of law, and most importantly, a sense of belonging to a community of shared values. 

Her address emphasized the importance of the concept of European unification based on shared values – in addition to EU enlargement that adds land and population to the Union.

“The new geopolitical landscape is moving our neighbourhood to gravitate even closer to the EU as an anchor to stability and democratic values,” said the Commissioner.

She pointed out that Iceland is considering holding a referendum to reopen EU accession negotiations, while in Norway, public support for EU membership is at its highest level in 25 years. Last week, Switzerland attended a meeting of EU finance ministers for the first time, and the EU is also building a special partnership with Canada, Kos added.

Over the past 15 years, the EU has often been consumed by internal challenges, she said - listing the debt crisis, migration pressures, Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unprecedented energy crisis. In her view, today’s European leaders recognize that unifying the continent is essential to safeguarding peace, freedom, security, and prosperity for all Europeans.

Marta Kos noted that public opinion polls show a large majority of Europeans expect the EU to take responsibility for its own security.

She also reaffirmed that EU enlargement is one of the top priorities of the current European Commission.

She said that sometimes the EU is criticized for being overly bureaucratic and slow but, on the other hand, it is a reliable and predictable partner, the Commission went on to say. Last week the EC President had calls from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Mexico to talk trade and the reason for these calls is that the EU is an attractive partner, she said.