Slovakia's accession to the EU and NATO, both achieved in 2004, was the only viable path for the country, and this also holds true today, said President Andrej Kiska on Wednesday. On the day commemorating the 15th anniversary of Slovakia's membership of EU and NATO, Kiska hosted a ceremonial lunch for people who contributed towards Slovakia's accession to these international structures. According to Kiska, apart from the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and the emergence of an independent Slovakia in 1993, joining the EU and NATO were the most important events in Slovakia's history. He called on current politicians to present positive visions for the EU and not to be afraid of speaking of the further enlargement of both the EU and NATO.
Vice-premier for Investment and Informatisation Richard Raši (Smer-SD) concurred that the benefits of Slovakia's EU accession are to be seen everywhere. Raši stated this during an event to celebrate joining the EU that involved several countries in Warsaw on Wednesday. At the event, organised by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Raši also signed a joint declaration calling for the need to strengthen and enlarge the EU, and to discuss the common market, which brings benefits for all. "The declaration also mentions joint security and the future, and calls for people from all EU-member countries to be given equal access to all the EU's benefits," said Raši, pointing out that many new EU members were uneasy about differing food-quality standards between old and new member countries.
Diverging comments on the European Union were made on Wednesday by the chairs of the Slovak parliamentary foreign affairs and EU committees, Katarína Cséfalvayová (Most-Híd) and Ľuboš Blaha (Smer-SD), respectively. "For the first time ever, we in Central Europe aren't on the menu of stronger powers, thanks to the EU," said Cséfalvayová. Conversely, Blaha said that there was little reason for a boisterous party. "The European Union is a neo-liberal project in the first place - it's opened markets to big Western corporations and it's made us geopolitically dependent on Western powers," said Blaha, who warned that the EU might not survive "if it doesn't stand up for people and instead continues to serve the banks", which would deepen people's scepticism even further. Nevertheless, he praised the funding of infrastructure projects via cohesion funds.
