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European Union must enlarge or face 'new Iron Curtain,' President Michel warns
euronews (in English)
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29/04/2024
The European Union must get bigger or risk facing a "new Iron Curtain" along its eastern flank, European Council President Charles Michel said Monday as the bloc marks 20 years since its largest ever enlargement.
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00:00
"The European Union must accept new members from its eastern flank and the Western Balkans
00:07
or face a new Iron Curtain," Charles Michel has said.
00:11
The European Council President spoke to Euronews as the bloc celebrates 20 years since the
00:16
so-called Big Bang enlargement of 2004, when 10 countries with a combined population of
00:21
75 million were granted EU membership.
00:25
"This is vital for the future of the EU because we thought enlargement is in fact a risk for
00:30
a new Iron Curtain and this would be extremely dangerous if you would have an unstable neighbourhood
00:37
with a lack of prosperity, a lack of economic development. These are common interests, the
00:42
candidate countries and the EU to make progress, to speed up. I am confident because I feel
00:48
that the leaders, a vast majority of them, they are absolutely convinced this is important
00:54
for the future."
00:56
Nine countries are waiting in the wings to join the European Union, including war-torn
01:01
Ukraine. But the accession process is long and complex, with steps on the path to full-fledged
01:07
membership requiring the unanimous approval of all EU member states. Hungary has already
01:14
threatened to wield its veto power to block Ukraine's accession. But Michel is confident
01:20
that it won't stop the EU from fast-tracking candidate countries' bids.
01:24
"For instance, with EU, the country has tension, which is giving the possibility for a country
01:30
to say, 'Look, I don't like and I'm not very comfortable with this decision and I make
01:34
public my opinion, but I don't want to block the vast majority of the member states which
01:39
would like to make progress in a certain field, a certain domain."
01:43
Michel has previously said that the EU has to be ready to accept new members by 2030.
01:50
And he said this week that the most advanced countries could already join the bloc by the
01:54
end of this decade.
01:55
(electronic whirring)
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