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BRUSSELS, 22 February. The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, stated this Thursday at the opening event of the Forum Europa in Brussels that there are "countries desperate to join the European Union" and that "we must be prepared for a Union of 30, 33 or 35 countries.”
This was said by Roberta Metsola during a meeting organised by New Economy Forum in the community's capital, in which she was introduced by the President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), Nadia Calviño.
Metsola underlined the importance of the European elections to be held from 6 to 9 June, 2024 to appoint the representatives of the 27 for the next five years: “We are about to embark on a process that will lead to the largest multinational democratic exercise that the world has ever seen.”
“When we talk about the main achievements of the European Union, we will talk about the legislation and the rules in place, but I also want to recognise how far we've come in terms of social and political change to give European girls and boys role models,” she stated.
However, she pointed out that "we should not make the mistake of assuming that it is something that arose by accident, it arose from people who sacrificed, from people who believed, from people who voted." “Democracy is something we too often take for granted in Europe,” she warned.
Regarding the enlargement, she recalled that the EU began adhesion negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova last year, in addition to granting candidate status to Georgia and reinforcing its commitment to the Western Balkans.
“We are convinced in the European Parliament that this is the greatest geopolitical asset of the European Union. We have already experienced its unexpected benefits before and we must be prepared for a Union of 30, 33 or 35” countries, she stressed.
She assured that “countries are desperate to join the European Union” and wondered why Romania and Bulgaria are not yet in the Schengen area: “These are things that we must project: that we can be bigger, that we can be better if we are bigger, in terms of values and security, because that is what makes everyone rise to the level until they are equal,” she added.
Metsola points out that there are countries "desperate to join the European Union"
