Von der Leyen also praised the Czech Republic. In 20 years, you and the EU have strengthened, she said

The ceremonial session of the European Parliament commemorated the 20th anniversary of the birth of the Union.

Joining the European Union (EU) has given millions of Europeans a new sense of togetherness. I think we all remember the time when the continent was divided. But then he became united, Metsolaov said, with the fact that now membership in the EU is at hand for other countries as well. It specifically changed Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and parts of the Western Balkans.

In the last two decades, Europe has been exposed to unprecedented upheavals, but a determined elite has managed to overcome them. We don’t always share the same views, but we realize that membership in the EU is beneficial for everyone, she added.

Europe sent us in many ways, but you also sent her. You have sent us a response to the geopolitical calls that elme. Europe’s voice on the global scene is much stronger thanks to you, von der Leyen told the ten hundred that joined the EU in May 2004. As one of the examples, she cited the role of the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, which influenced the EU’s reaction to the Russian aggression against Ukraine. In 2004, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus joined the EU.

Von der Leyenov noted that among his duties was also the delivery of a very unsolicited message about the future. What happens to Ukraine will always affect the future of the Union. Russia is an existential threat. Ukraine carries this heavy burden on its shoulders for all of us and pays the highest price, added von der Leyenov, adding that the twenty-seventh must help Kyiv.

The ceremonial session of the European Parliament in Trasburg was graced by a number of memories from 20 years ago. the Czech Republic was represented somewhere by Pavel Telika, the chief negotiator of the Czech accession to the EU and the first Czech commission. Slovakia is represented by former Prime Minister Mikul Dzurinda, and Poland by former Prime Minister Leszek Miller. At that time, the EU institutions were represented by the former President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, and the former European Commission for Born, Gnter Verheugen. At the session, they responded to questions from people born around May 1, 2004 from all states.

The young man Filip asked the then Czech negotiator a question that they also wanted to reach the ambassadors in the European Union. As Pavel Telika answered, in 1996 the Czech Republic was the only country that, at the time, attached a memorandum on several parties to the molehill to join the European Community, in which it explained its position. We wanted to be integrated into the single internal market, from the free movement of persons, goods, chapter, but we also wanted much more. We wanted the Czech republic to be once and for all anchored in the space where it suffered and suffered for a long time, with countries with which we share a common history, values, traditions and deaths, answered Telika.

Develop Europe and strengthen co-responsibility

At the time, Czech Republic stated that it wanted to rely on the further development of Europe. If Vclav Havel said here in this city, among other things, that the Czech Republic is returning to Europe, he meant that we are returning not only to where we belong, but that we have the ambition to develop Europe and take co-responsibility for it, added bval esk European Commission. It would be great if people from the Czech Republic continued to assume the responsibility for the Treaty of Europe in many areas for generations.

Representatives of all factions also spoke at the ceremonial session, including two MEPs. After 20 years, I’m really glad, there is no us or them in the eu, only us. We still have our national names, but we are all equal members of the same club. We are one European Union, said MEP Dita Charanzov (independent, elected for ANO) from the Renew faction in a speech. She added that the EU must now not give in to those who talk about Brussels or Strasbourg as something to be fought against.

When I reflect on the past two decades, I am amazed at the remarkable progress we have made. Seeing our common democratic values ​​across the continent, we have hope in the everyday world with a reckless aggressor right at our borders, said Pirt MEP from the Green faction Marcel Kolaja. He added that the EU must not rest on its laurels, because, according to him, the attempt to disintegrate the Union has led to the collapse of the Union, including its basic values ​​and principles, the erosion of the first state and the attempt to limit democracy in several European countries.