Petricek and Korcok: EU Should Not Be Judge on Historical Issues

“The EU must not be allowed to become a collective judge of historical interpretations – of what is right, wrong, true and false in the past hundreds of years of Balkan history! “It would be a major departure from the principles that have governed the enlargement process so far and which are part of our enhanced approach – transparency and predictability,” Czech and Slovak Foreign Ministers Tomas Petricek and Ivan Korcok write in a joint column for EUobserver titled ” EU should not be a judge of historical issues”. In particular, say top Czech and Slovak diplomats, such requests should not be allowed to become a formal part of the accession criteria, as it would turn the EU into an arbiter of national histories. They believe that a direct and predictable enlargement process is needed based on measurable criteria, clear commitments and political will.