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President Ilves to the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs: the European Union must reach out a helping hand to the people of Belarus, who have been deprived of democracy and a state based on the rule of law

President Ilves to the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs: the European Union must reach out a helping hand to the people of Belarus, who have been deprived of democracy and a state based on the rule of law
János Martonyi, the Foreign Minister of Hungary together with Toomas Hendrik Ilves, the President of Estonia
© Toomas Volmer

01.06.2011

Further enlargement of the European Union and Eastern Partnership were the main issues discussed at today’s meeting of the President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, and János Martonyi, the Foreign Minister of Hungary, the country that currently holds the EU Presidency.

The Estonian Head of State hopes that the European Union can soon wind up negotiations with Croatia, as this could be the positive thrust needed by the other Western Balkan states to continue with political and economic reforms, and that Serbia, which has implemented reforms and shown impressive commitment in movement towards the European Union, will be awarded the status of a candidate country this autumn.

“The European Union – if we want to be really strong and responsible regarding our region and look into the future – cannot afford enlargement fatigue,” President Ilves insisted. “This is a weakness that has no place in the process of shaping modern Europe.”

According to the Estonian Head of State, Ukraine’s and Moldova’s integration with the European Union is important for Europe’s success. “The larger the share of European attitudes and democracy in the immediate vicinity of the European Union, the stronger and more stable the whole of Europe will be.”

At the same time, President Ilves regarded reviewing the European Union’s current measures, exercised with respect to Belarus, as important, and he also detailed the need to find additional mechanisms for influencing the regime in Minsk as important.

“We must reach out a helping hand to the people of Belarus, who have been deprived of democracy and a state based on the rule of law, while using very accurately aimed sanctions to fight the regime, so as to avoid causing suffering to the common citizens of Belarus,” President Ilves told. “The European Union must stand united here and the economic interests of specific countries should not postpone urgent political decisions, which must be adopted to help the people of Belarus.”

 

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