22
Nov
2023
Watch
30 years of Copenhagen criteria - giving further impetus to EU enlargement policy (debate)
Mr President! Fifteen years after the great eastward enlargement, we are here again. We are in a situation where a large majority in this House, the European Commission, the President of the Council, wants a major enlargement to the east. Has anyone learned from the past? Has anyone learned from the chaos brought about by the eastward enlargement, precisely because the agreed rules of the game were not adhered to? We have seen a wave of social dumping. We have seen a wave of organised crime. Yes, even today – 15 years after our last major enlargement – a number of Member States still do not have access to Schengen, still do not have access to the euro because they are not yet ready. And in this situation, there is talk of enlarging the European Union to include up to 55 million new inhabitants, all coming from countries that are even poorer and in an even worse state on the rule of law than Poland and Hungary, which this House loves to criticise. So when does hypocrisy stop? The same people in this house who, at every plenary session, want attacks on the Polish government, want attacks on the Hungarian government, now stand and say: Let's take in more of that kind of government. It's not hard to see when you look at corruption, when you look at LGBT rights, when you look at all the parameters you usually care about where these countries are located. Yet you stand and bid them in with open arms, and I'm just saying: You also have to take responsibility for the consequences. (The speaker agreed to answer a blue card question)