The Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) on Tuesday 19 January 2010, organised a roundtable discussion with Dr. Jozsef Czukor, State Secretary for EU Member States & Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hungary. Dr. Czukor elaborated on the prospects for cooperation between Central & Southeast Europe.
In preparation of Hungary’s forthcoming EU Presidency during the first half of 2011, Dr. Czukor presented key elements of his country’s prospects for regional cooperation. The emphasis is on:
1. Re-animating a “sleepy” Visegrade process, which seeks to use this forum of regional cooperation in order to advance the Western Balkans’ enlargement prospects. This is particularly pertinent with regard to Croatia’s EU accession. Other options include cultural exchange, the provision of scholarships for students from the region and the advancement of a Centre for Roma Studies across the regions of central and south eastern Europe.
2. The Lisbon Treaty has changed the conditions for cooperation, e.g. in terms of decision-making procedures. In order to pool resources and react to this change regional cooperation is key.
3. Dr. Czukor emphasized that for regional cooperation to advance there is a need for a “meso-level” between EU institutions and national representations. Regional strategies in areas such the ‘Danube Strategy’ can serve to express this intermediate level.
4. Regional cooperation is in the mutual interest of Greece and Hungary, being two countries that have numerous borders with non-EU members. The Danube Strategy can open cooperation opportunities with Greece in areas such as port integration, railway interconnections and energy connectivity, e.g. in the field of gas pipelines.
5. Greece’ s 2014 initiative is supported by Hungary. In Dr. Czukor’s view Croatia’s EU accession would create momentum for future integration opportunities for other countries from the Western Balkans. It is critical to reduce as much as possible the length of the anticipated break between Croatia’s EU accession and other EU aspirants from the Western Balkans.
6. Finally, Dr. Czukor underlined that the painful process of adhering to the Maastricht criteria should not only apply for non-Euro-zone members wishing to join, but also for existing members.
Dr. Jens Bastian, Research Fellow at ELIAMEP coordinated the discussion.