Czech Prime Minister celebrates with European leaders in Warsaw the anniversary of EU accession

On Wednesday, 1 May 2019, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš met with the representatives of European states in Warsaw to celebrate the 15th anniversary of joining the European Union.

Prime Minister Babiš visited Poland today to join the 15th anniversary celebrations of the European Union. On 1 May 2004, the European Union expanded to include 10 new countries.

During the negotiations and the subsequent working lunch, talks focused on the experience of cooperation between the states within the Union since 2004. In the future, the Czech Republic will strive to improve the functioning of the EU, strengthen our position as well as security and defence measures within the continent.                 

“We must change Europe and we have very concrete ideas on how to do it. This meeting was very good because we spent four hours together. Ten countries that were new members in 2014. I think it was very positive. European elections are approaching and they will decide how the European Union will evolve. What will be the position of the European Council towards the European Commission. We want to have a strong Europe and we want to contribute to it. We do not want a politicized European Commission, it must be a European Council that has a crucial say. And we have to deal with the things at hand – Brexit, climate change, Schengen, internal market, external trade, foreign policy. We have the same voice as any other Member State and we strive to make ourselves heard. It is unacceptable to have different standards in different countries, such as double food quality. And in general, I do not like any division of EU states into categories, like old and new”, said Andrej Babiš.

According to the Prime Minister, the European Union is a unique grouping. He also added that the fifteen years of EU membership has had a significant and positive impact on our country, bringing us not only economic prosperity but above all stability and long-term peace.

“The EU project is certainly great. It brought us peace and the Schengen area. There is no need for a passport, we can travel with an ID card and no other formalities are needed. We have free movement of goods, persons, capital. We have access to the internal market, our people can work abroad, our companies can do business more freely. In principle, this is not a debate about whether or not to be there. We certainly belong to the European Union and we need to work together to make it work better”, said the Czech Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Hungary and representatives of Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the European Commission attended the ceremonial meeting in Warsaw, organized by Mateusz Morawiecki.