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SARAJEVO, July 14 (FENA) - The EU Enlargement Policy is a strategic investment in peace, stability, and development in Europe, therefore Finland will continue to work on a credible prospect of enlargement for the countries of Western Balkans, an area of strategic importance for the EU, said the non-resident Ambassador of Finland to Bosnia and Herzegovina based in Zagreb, Risto Piipponen in an interview with FENA.
Author: Hana Imamović
After Finland has taken over the six-month chairmanship of the Council of the European Union on July 1, the ambassador said that this was happening at a very interesting moment when European leaders agreed on a strategic agenda for the period 2019 to 2024, that will be in parallel with the Finnish presiding program.
Speaking about the EU enlargement, he stressed that commitment to basic European values is essential for all partners seeking membership in the EU.
Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto recently said that Finland welcomed the efforts to integrate the Western Balkan countries, as it is at the very heart of the European continent. At the same time, however, he recalled that the path to membership is long, and accession negotiations can last for years, each country is monitored separately in order to assess the progress it has made, but steps must be taken to ensure that enlargement strengthens the entire Union.
When it comes to the six-month presidency, Ambassador Piipponen added that the Finnish Presidency program is ambitious and truly European with the promotion of European interests instead of national ones.
The Finnish Presidency's slogan is "Sustainable Europe - Sustainable Future", a future that must be socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, and one of the priorities will be to strengthen the position of the European Union as a global leader in climate change action.
Also, the priorities will be to strengthen shared values and the rule of law, make the EU more competitive and socially inclusive and to protect citizens' safety in a comprehensive way.
However, the key priority of the Finnish presidency, the ambassador said, is the global leadership of the EU in climate change action, which means a commitment to achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
It is necessary, as the ambassador believes, to protect the very foundations of European integration - peace, security, stability, democracy, and prosperity. He also expressed the conviction that the EU can act together and defend the shared values in order to cope with the current challenges.
Piipponen also referred to bilateral relations between the two countries, reminding that they have been good and that they have been going on since December 29, 1994.
Recently, these relations have been encouraged at a high level, but he assessed that there is room for further improvement, especially in the area of economic cooperation, and the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina paves the way for strengthening bilateral relations with EU member states.
In recent years, BiH and Finland have worked together on various twinning projects, including TAEIX cooperation projects, which is why the ambassador expressed confidence that these are excellent instruments for sharing expertise and supporting public administration reforms.
Finland took over the EU presidency from Romania, and on January 1 next year it will hand it over to Croatia. This is the third time that Finland has headed the EU Council, which brings together ministers of member states and works in various fields from agriculture to foreign and internal affairs.
(FENA) S. R.
