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Schallenberg: Danube should become an EU inland waterway

by AI | 20.Jun 2024 | Europe in brief AI

The EU Danube Region Strategy is a “testing laboratory for EU membership”, says Austria’s Foreign Minister ahead of a meeting with his colleagues from the 14 Danube countries. Furthermore, the EU internal reform should not be used as a pretext against enlargement.

Archive image - All Danube countries should belong to the EU, according to Schallenberg. Photo: Barbara Gindl/APA

Vienna – Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) sees the EU Danube Region Strategy as a “testing ground for EU membership.” Before a meeting with his colleagues from the 14 Danube countries, Schallenberg said in Vienna on Thursday that he wanted to send a signal to the future EU Commission “that this region is at the very top of the EU agenda.” All Danube countries should belong to the EU. “We want the Danube to become an internal river of the EU.”

The foreign or European ministers from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Moldova, and Serbia are expected to attend. Government members from Germany, Romania, Slovenia, Hungary, and Ukraine are also expected to participate. EU Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn is also traveling to Vienna. The ministers intend to sign a “Danube Declaration for a Danube Region of Security and Prosperity.” Austria will hold the chairmanship of the EU Danube Region Strategy in 2024.

In particular, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has shown that “enlargement is our greatest geopolitical tool, we should also use it,” said Schallenberg, who wants to continue this discussion on Friday at the European Forum in Göttweig with the “Friends of the Western Balkans.”

EU internal reform should not be used as a pretext against enlargement, said Schallenberg. In doing so, Schallenberg spoke out against abolishing the EU veto right in Council votes. Voting by qualified majority is “not a miracle weapon.” What is decisive is rather the willingness to compromise. (20.06.2024)