“Countries that enjoy calling themselves most pro-European are the ones to block the enlargement policy, insist on a low budget and promote protectionism. It is an extreme paradox of today’s Union,” added the deputy minister.

The MFA secretary of state attended the session „Europe After The Elections: Multiple Speeds And Different Directions”. The discussion focused on the situation within the EU after the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker’s term of office and the agenda and tasks for the new Commission. Also discussed were the results of the European Parliament elections and the future of the euro zone. “The political change in the EU is not only so-called populism but also the growth of parties pushing for federalization. The status quo is under attack from both sides. Thus, the internal contradictions are becoming increasingly blatant. The fragile vote result over the new EC President-elect is illustrative, said Deputy Minister Szymański.

As for the euro zone future, the minister noted that in the wake of Brexit Poland will soon become the largest EU country outside the monetary union and hence play the key role in the process of the Economic and Monetary Union reform. “As of today, we can conclude that the euro zone resulted in disparity of economic indices across the EU Member States. This internal contradiction is more important than the alleged serious East-West tensions,” underlined Deputy Minister Szymański.

MFA Press Office

Photo: Tymon Markowski/MFA