(Hina) – Enlargement is the European Union’s most successful policy to date and Croatia is strongly advocating its continuation, considering it its own national interest, said Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miro Kovač on Thursday.
“Enlargement is the European Union’s most successful policy, which has transformed the European continent into one of peace, democracy, respect for the rule of law and human rights”, Kovač said in his keynote address at the round table on the role of enlargement policy in strengthening the resilience of the EU neighbouring countries, held at the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb.
Kovač said that in the “old” part of Europe one might sometimes get the impression that the enlargement interest had waned, but that Croatia “remains a strong advocate of the EU’s further enlargement”.
Kovač believes that the EU’s advantages are often taken for granted and should therefore be made more visible to the citizens, whose voice should also be taken into account when forming future European policies.
The round table on “EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy: Resilience Strengthening and Enlargement Policy” was held as part of the preparations for the drafting of the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy, to be published on 24 June, and is part of a comprehensive campaign on consulting and informing the public in member states about the importance of EU’s external action.
The round table was co-organized by the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO), European Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) and MFEA Diplomatic Academy.