“Any democratic project, any democratic model is inherently mortal,” Michel admitted to reporters in Brussels. At the same time, he emphasized that this assessment is not pessimistic.
“I’m an optimist. We have the power, we have the tools” to deal with the problems, Michel declared.
Macron last Thursday called on Europe to face the challenges of a changing world and warned that “our Europe today is mortal and may die”.
“It can die and it depends only on our choices,” Macron said, warning that Europe “is not armed against the risks we face” in a world where “the rules of the game have changed.”
“In the next decade (..) there is a huge risk that (Europe) could be weakened,” Macron said in a speech at the Sorbonne University in Paris. This speech was presented as the French president’s vision for the future of Europe.
European Parliament (EP) elections are expected in June, which will affect the distribution of top positions in the bloc and EU policy in the coming years.
Asked about the expansion of the European Union to the east to include countries such as Ukraine and the Balkans, Michel stuck to what he said earlier, that “we must be ready by 2030”.
“What’s the alternative? If the idea is to delay for several more decades, that means we’re sending a message to China, to Russia, that this is their playground in our immediate neighborhood,” Michel said.
Michel gave the interview marking the 20th anniversary of the EU’s last enlargement in 2004, when ten countries joined it.
In December, the EU decided to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova and granted candidate status to Georgia.
In December 2022, the EU candidate status was granted to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but accession negotiations have not yet started. Four Western Balkan countries – North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania – are also officially candidate countries, but their path to the EU is currently blocked.
Tags: President European Council agrees Macron mortality Europe
