Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-01-16-Speech-3-021"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20080116.2.3-021"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spokenAs | |
| lpv:translated text |
"Mr President, President-in-Office of the Council, President of the Commission, as a Member from Carinthia, an immediate neighbour of Slovenia, it is awe-inspiring and a pleasure for me that a nation that only 20 years ago was groaning under the yoke of communism is now in charge of the European Union for six months. This is proof for me that the path of European integration away from the catastrophes of the 20th century is the right one in itself to freedom and unity.
When I hear that Slovenia’s aim during this Council Presidency is primarily to introduce all the states of the former Yugoslavia to the European Union, then I believe that it is right and it is important, in order to round off this process of European integration territorially, as it were. I believe that this is considerably more important than, for example, the accession negotiations with a country like Turkey, whose primary territory is in Anatolia, in Asia.
I believe that this process of introducing states of the former Yugoslavia to the EU would need to take place primarily in such a way that it enables Europeans to act without the influence of powers outside Europe, for instance the United States of America and Russia. I hope that Slovenia is able to bear in mind first and foremost Croatia’s desire for EU membership and that conflicts like those surrounding fishing zones between Croatia and Slovenia, for instance, will not present any obstacle to this, because of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, Croatia, along with Slovenia, is undoubtedly the country that is most ready for Europe and a democratically mature, central European country.
On the issue of Kosovo, which will undoubtedly tax Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council the most, the situation is such that on the one hand, we have to take account of the right of each people group to self-determination, the right of the majority of the Albanian Kosovars, but on the other hand, we also have to consider the historic rights of the Serbs. Something like a US satellite state should not be allowed to emerge with Kosovo, nor should Serbia be driven into the arms of Moscow, into the arms of the Kremlin. Kosovo’s autonomy should not become a precedent for Turkish Northern Cyprus. The aim should be stability in the Balkans and the rounding off of European integration in territorial terms.
Let me get down to discussing in a nutshell a bilateral problem between Slovenia and Austria: the issue of topographic signs in Carinthia. I hope that the Austrian Federal Government will soon find a fair solution that satisfies the eminently well protected Slovenian minority in Austria. By the same token, I hope that Slovenia also finds a sensible solution regarding the German-speaking Austrian residual minority in Slovenia and recognises these people as an indigenous minority, and that the cultural convention between Austria and Slovenia can be full of substance in this regard."@en1
|
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples