You experienced an economic miracle, von der Leyen said to the Czech Republic twenty years after joining the EU

“Your economies have experienced great growth. Your agricultural production has tripled. Your unemployment rate is cut in half. The power of Europe, together with your ingenuity, has brought a true economic miracle to your countries.” https://twitter.com/EU_Commission/status/1783060432384639228 von der Leyen. She added that the then new members of the EU strengthened, just as these countries strengthened the Union.

At the same time, she remembered the expansion at that time very fondly. “When the clock struck midnight on May 1, 2004, the entire continent began to celebrate. Flames of fire lit up the coasts of the Baltic states, thousands of rockets colored the seas around Malta and Cyprus and Slovenian lakes, and the Ode to Joy was heard by the cities of Central and Eastern Europe, which used to be on the other side of the Iron Curtain,” said the head of the European Commission. “It was the birth of a new era,” she added.

The average Czech has become richer by 40 percent since joining the European Union

Finance

According to her, during the mentioned twenty years, the EU fulfilled the “promise of freedom, stability, peace and prosperity” in these countries. At the same time, she appreciated the support of these countries towards Ukraine and the initiative of Cyprus, which advocated the construction of a maritime corridor for the Gaza Strip.

Telička for the Czech Republic, Dzurinda for Slovakia

It was the war in Ukraine that von der Leyen devoted the second part of her speech. “What happens in Ukraine will affect our future forever,” she said. According to her, Russia represents an existential danger not only for Ukraine, but for the whole of Europe. “Ukraine carries this heavy burden on its shoulders for all of us, and every day it pays the ultimate price,” von der Leyen said, recalling Ukraine’s losses.

“There’s only one way to deal with it, Putin doesn’t understand anything else. Ukraine needs to be given the means to defend itself,” said the head of the European Commission. It is evident from the footage that not everyone present in the European Parliament joined in the applause that rang out after these words.

According to von der Leyna, the Russian president was wrong when he thought that the EU would not stand up for Ukraine, and when he believed that the US Congress would not approve aid for Kyiv. “Ukraine must win,” emphasized von der Leyen at the end of her speech and called for unity.

Its head, Roberta Metsolaová, who herself comes from Malta, also spoke in the European Parliament. She said that the EU has always meant security for her.

In 2004, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Malta and Cyprus joined the EU. Among the guests of the meeting in Strasbourg, in addition to Telička, there was, for example, former Prime Minister Mikuláš Dzurinda for Slovakia, former President of the European Commission Romano Prodi and former European Commissioner for Enlargement Günter Verheugen. At the meeting, they responded to questions from people born around May 1, 2004 from their states.