Visegrad group, Slovenia confirm support for further EU enlargement in Western Balkans

Record ID: 1435041

  • Title: Visegrad group, Slovenia confirm support for further EU enlargement in Western Balkans
  • Date: 3rd October 2019
  • Summary: LANY, CZECH REPUBLIC (OCTOBER 3, 2019) (REUTERS) PRESIDENTS OF CZECH REPUBLIC, HUNGARY, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SERBIA AND POLAND ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERA OPERATOR FILMING PRESIDENTS SEATED AT NEWS CONFERENCE TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Czech) CZECH PRESIDENT, MILOS ZEMAN, SAYING: "We stated that on one side responsibility for Brexit rests with the EU, when the European Commission with their occasional nonsense directives upset the British population, while on the British side, UK politicians who made British citizens believe that they will profit by leaving the EU." SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT BORUT PAHOR AND ALEKSANDAR VUCIC LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Hungarian) HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT, JANOS ADER, SAYING: "The other issue was the integration of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union, especially Serbia, as soon as possible. Indeed, the heads of state for five countries already in the EU were present and we all support Serbia's accession to the European Union. This is not news to you, this has been the case thus far. We discussed that our stance on this will not change in the future either." POLISH PRESIDENT ANDRZEJ DUDA LISTENING JOURNALISTS TAKING PHOTOS (SOUNDBITE) (Slovak) SLOVAK PRESIDENT, ZUZANA CAPUTOVA, SAYING: "We discussed the enlargement of the EU for the Western Balkans. The Slovak Republic has supported Serbia for a long time, after fulfilling all the conditions and criteria of course, which we, as the Slovak Republic, have to fulfill as well." CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Slovenian) SLOVENIAN PRESIDENT, BORUT PAHOR, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "The V4 support, and Slovenian support as well, is very important. We have to explain to the EU that it is in the interest of all of us to continue this enlargement." CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) SERBIAN PRESIDENT, ALEKSANDAR VUCIC, SAYING (ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL TRANSLATION): "I am very grateful to President Zeman for his position on Kosovo and we have talked about our position, I have discussed the problem we are facing and I said the only way that is beneficial for the Western Balkans is the accession to the EU. We really can't interfere in the internal affairs of the Czech Republic but we are grateful to all of those who will listen to us. To those six states which reject recognising the independence of Kosovo." CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) POLISH PRESIDENT, ANDRZEJ DUDA, SAYING: "We talked about how we would all like to see the climate goals met, however, met while taking our situation into consideration, taking into consideration what we called a just transition at the December COP24 Climate Change Conference in Katowice, a transition towards environmentally-friendly energy sources, which would be safe for our community, not pose a threat to our economic wellbeing, not lead to a dramatic rise in energy prices, not place an extra burden on the budget of citizens, not lead to a dramatic rise in unemployment, one which would allow us to transition our economies gradually, a transition that in order to protect our environment is increasingly necessary. All our countries find themselves in this similar situation." CAMERA OPERATORS PRESIDENTS LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 17th October 2019 17:30
  • Keywords: Balkans Hungary Visegrad meeting Czech Republic Slovenia Central Europe Economy Poland Serbia Slovakia V4 presidential meeting
  • Location: LANY, CZECH REPUBLIC
  • City: LANY, CZECH REPUBLIC
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AZJMT6H
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The presidents of the Visegrad group of four central European countries and the president of Slovenia confirmed their support of further European Union enlargement in the Western Balkans on Thursday (October 3).
    Hungarian President Janos Ader said that all five countries were particularly supportive of Serbia's entry to the bloc.
    Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who was also present at the meeting, said he was grateful to Czech President Milos Zeman for the latter's position on Kosovo.
    Zeman said last month during a visit to Belgrade he would seek to withdraw the Czech Republic's recognition of Kosovo, which Serbia still considers part of its territory.
    Polish Prime Minister Andrzej Duda also said all six countries discussed how to meet the UN's climate goals but in a way that would not lead to a rise in energy prices, cost of living or unemployment.
    (Production: Jiri Skacel, Dominik Starosz, Lewis Macdonald)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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