This year the Europe Forum will take place in the Wachau from Thursday to Saturday. Clear demands and statements were sent to Brussels from Göttweig Abbey on Friday. For example, Austria and six other EU countries are calling for the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU to be “promoted and accelerated with renewed vigor”.
Brexit in the west, war in the east. Just like last year, the initial situation at the European Forum was complicated this year in the Wachau. All the clearer are the answers that politicians discussed on Friday in the idyllic Göttweig Abbey. “From the Göttweigerberg you historically always had a great view of the wide world,” explains forum chairman Martin Eichtinger. Together with Othmar Karas, who was also present, Eichtinger is not only “one of the greatest Europeans of our time” for the governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner.
Almost exactly one year before the elections for the European Parliament, the governor emphasized during the forum: “If we do not want dreamers or radicals to shake the cohesion of Europe, then the European Union must regain reason and strength.” advocated an “Alliance of Reason”.
Focus on competition and prosperity
It must be about strengthening the competitiveness of the European Union in order to secure prosperity. It is important not to act like a lone fighter and to let what we have in common prevail over what divides us. This also applies to the “Friends of the Western Balkans” initiative, founded by Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg. Together with his ministerial colleagues Miroslav Wlachovský (Slovakia), Jan Lipavský (Czech Republic) and Gordan Grlić Radman (Croatia), he signed the “Göttweiger Declaration”, which aims to put more pressure on the countries of the Western Balkans to accede join the EU.
With the right focus on Ukraine, the EU should not lose sight of the countries of Southeastern Europe. Greece, Italy, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic are already part of the Austrian initiative. Accession to the EU must be more than dreams of the future. “If we send a signal to our neighbors to the east, we must also take our geopolitical responsibility towards southeastern Europe,” explains Schallenberg.
Ministers are stepping up the pace
In particular, the declaration calls, among other things, for the Western Balkan region to be more closely involved in European policies and bodies in the sense of “gradual and accelerated integration”, even before full accession. Particularly in the context of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, it must be in the Union’s interest to have a much closer exchange of views on foreign and security policy with Western Balkan partners in order to resolutely face common challenges.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
