How to bring hope, enthusiasm, and trust in the system back to our citizens is the question this year’s Central Europe Summit seeks to find an answer to, said Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič. In his speech opening the 18th year of the presidential summit held in the Slovak capital Bratislava, Gašparovič said that even though Europe has employed many measures in combating the crisis, there are still some tasks left to fight in order to achieve a clear victory. "The dynamic region of the Central, Eastern and South-East Europe has the right to offer its own authentic solutions within the pan-European discussion on the way out of the crisis. These should involve solutions based on our experience," stated the Slovak President adding that the voice of our region should be stronger and made heard in pan European discussions.
On Thursday the Central Europe Summit is holding plenary talks discussing the possible solutions to the crisis and the specific contribution of the region to such solutions. Overcoming the crisis is the top priority of Europe, claims the European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. A thorough strategy built on four pillars has been drawn up to battle the crisis, stated Herman Van Rompuy after a meeting with the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. Financial stability, above all, needs to be maintained and economies need to be prepared for a greater deal of resilience through sound public finances and competitiveness, he added. Van Rompuy stressed the need to complete the setting up of the economic and monetary union. However, at the same time, he claims Europe is heading in the right direction having fought the existential crisis over the euro off and having pushed budget deficits of EU member states to a half since 2008. He also praised the fact that competitiveness is improving and exports are on the rise. Nonetheless, “the situation is highly serious,” as the crisis persists, and many countries are battling with high unemployment, concluded the European Council President.
