“No Trojan horses. Countries who would undermine us from within cannot become an EU member state”, Enlargement Commissioner Kos said at the debate on the enlargement strategy report.
As she added, countries who join the EU must be strong and resilient democracies able to resist the toxic influence of Russia and others. The Commissioner also said there couldn’t be shortcuts when it came to reforms. Furthermore, she underlined that bilateral blockades had to be overcome and that the process should be merit-based.
Insisting on the rule of law as a key priority inevitably strengthens the credibility of the enlargement process, the Commissioner assessed. The author of the report, MEP Petras Austrevicius, called on EU institutions to maintain the momentum of the process, remove internal obstacles, and respect the predictable and deserved accession procedure.