EU Committee Chairman: Further intensify joint projects – Ambassador Emil Brix: Use the potential of Central Europe for the successful further development of the EU
Vienna (OTS/ÖVP-PK) – “Cross-border cooperation for the benefit of citizens as well as strengthening regional cooperation are the focus of the Austrian chairmanship of the trilateral group made up of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia,” emphasizes the chairman of the EU Committee of the National Council, ÖVP MP Reinhold Lopatka, on the occasion of the meeting of the EU committees of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (“Slavkov3” group or “Austerlitz” format) taking place in Parliament today.
In the course of this, the director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Ambassador Emil Brix, also gave an introductory speech on the topic “Perspectives and opportunities for Central Europe in the European reform processes”. Ambassador Brix: “For the successful further development of the European Union, joint political initiatives from the states of the Central European region are needed. Since the EU enlargement to include states of the former Warsaw Pact, the traditional German-French engine has neither been the appropriate format nor able to design and implement a convincing vision for the future of European cooperation. In order to truly become a core region of the European Union in the middle of Europe, regional negotiation processes are needed at as many political and social levels as possible in order to contribute to the necessary reform processes within the EU with joint proposals. To date, this potential of Central Europe is far from being utilized, even in those European policy challenges such as infrastructure, migration and the Western Balkans, where there are common interests.” In the open question of Europe’s future security architecture, “it must be the interest of Austria and its neighboring states “not to become frontline states in a new ‘Cold War'”. The new national security strategies must therefore be coordinated as closely as possible, said Brix.
In this regard, ÖVP National Council member Reinhold Lopatka underlines the cornerstones of the Austrian chairmanship of “Slavkov3”, which has been in office for one year since July 1, 2023: “Joint initiatives and projects in the areas of energy security as well as traffic and transportation form a focus here, in addition to security policy. “In addition, we want to intensify trilateral coordination on issues relating to the Western Balkans, for example, and discuss the challenges relating to the EU accession process even more closely.” It is also clear that the topic of migration has particular weight and therefore marks an important point on Austria’s agenda . “This is about the security of Europe and the intensified fight against human trafficking. Europe needs qualified immigration, not illegal mass migration. That’s why we’re fighting for efficient external border protection,” says Lopatka.
This year is a key year for Europe and the European Union, said the EU Committee Chairman, “ultimately the elections to the European Parliament on June 9th will be about a directional decision – on the one hand there are the constructive forces in the middle, those who want to further develop and improve Europe, on the other hand those who, as an extended arm of the warmonger Putin, want to weaken the EU and thus also its member states.” It is important to tackle the big challenges decisively and find solutions in the interests of the people. “This is also what we are concerned about within the framework of ‘Slavkov3’ at the parliamentary level, where we work together across borders and as neighbors,” Lopatka concludes.
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