MINSK, 30 January (BelTA) – The overcoming of external and internal challenges makes the EU stronger and more sustainable, European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn said at the meeting with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko on 30 January, BelTA has learned.
“I am grateful for your words and for your vision of Europe. I have to admit that the EU has faced a number of challenges in the past few years. The union of 28 member states always have problems. Sometimes they are caused by internal processes, aometimes by external events. Of course, we were badly hit by the global financial and economic crisis. We were also affected by the wave of migration. We also have to deal with Brexit. I think, however, this is one of the qualities of the union, which is based on a strong foundation - the EU always comes out stronger and more sustainable from all such situations,” Johannes Hahn said.
According to him, different events have led to the strengthening of integration within the EU and mobilized the support of the population towards the union. “This is especially true in the context of Brexit. The fact that we stand united in the negotiations with the UK confirms that even such events strengthen our internal unity,” the European commissioner stressed.
He noted that not long ago he attended the World Economic Forum in Davos: “Two years ago everyone criticized Europe and said that, probably, Europe had come to its end. Populism in Europe was the major theme last year. This year everyone is talking about how Europe has been successfully coping with the problems."
As it was reported, when meeting with Commissioner Johannes Hahn, Alexander Lukashenko said that Belarus is an ardent supporter of the strong EU, which is one of the major pillars of the multi-polar world.
