Foreign Policies

Miklos: Bratislava Summit Shouldn't Be Overestimated

Bratislava, September 7 (TASR) – The informal EU summit in Bratislava on September 16 is an opportunity for Slovakia to make itself visible, but the meeting as such shouldn’t be overestimated, former finance minister and current economic reform advisor to the Ukrainian Government Ivan Miklos told TASR on Wednesday.

Miklos, a former economy and twice finance minister, says he doesn’t expect the summit to bring any significant shifts concerning Brexit, migration and communication of the EU towards the public. However, these challenges certainly must be tackled, otherwise the Union won’t survive, he added.

“It appears that Brexit supporters didn’t have any strategy,” according to Miklos. Brexit won’t be resolved during the Slovak presidency, and “will linger throughout the next few presidencies as well.”

Meanwhile, it’s necessary to make the EU comprehensible for the public. “We need to be able to name problems. Due to political correctness and our fear of being labelled as xenophobes, we’re frequently afraid to talk about problems openly,” said Miklos, adding that threats related to radical Islam are among those that must be debated frankly.

“Radical Islam is a threat for Europe and Europe must behave more actively when it comes to protection of the values it’s built on. Tolerance towards intolerance is dangerous, and this could destroy Europe,” said Miklos.

Also, it’s necessary to safeguard the outer Schengen borders more effectively, with all EU countries taking part in this struggle. At the same time it’s necessary to accept the opinion that the EU needs a common asylum policy, added Miklos.

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