During the plenary session (11-14 March 2019) of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, MEPs debate on the Future of Europe with Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister. This is the eighteen in a series of future of Europe debates between EU heads of state or government and MEPs.

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

future of the European Union (T)

EU - Slovakia (T)

PELLEGRINI, Peter (SK)

Future of Europe: extracts from the debate with Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister

SOUNDBITE (Slovak), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister, It's been a year and a couple of weeks since the murder of the journalist Jan Kuciak and his partner Martina Kusnirova. The double murder of these two young people has sent shockwaves through the general public as well as the political establishment. We all have one common goal, I want to assure you, and that is to uncover and punish the perpetrators.

SOUNDBITE (English), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister, We cannot be credible and successful in achieving our ideals if we do not overcome the last left overs of the former East-West divide. We have to get rid of the stereotypes through which we perceive our differences.

SOUNDBITE (English), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister, There is one major issue on which we failed to communicate on both sides: migration. We must work out a solution that can work for EVERYONE. Immigration must be manageable, and migration should serve the European interests.

SOUNDBITE (English), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister, We are not an exclusive club, we want to be an inclusive community, open for those who fulfil the criteria. And even for those who once left. It is in our strategic interest. Otherwise somebody else will fill the vacuum around us.

SOUNDBITE (English), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister, While focusing the budget on new challenges we should not give up on cohesion policy. Calls for a reduction in the next MFF reflect a wrong understanding of the role of Cohesion Policy. It is indeed cohesion policy that helps rich and poor regions to converge and contributes to economic growth even in difficult economic times.

SOUNDBITE (English), Peter PELLEGRINI, Slovak Prime Minister,I mentioned that we need to speak about our future. And please, how can we speak about the new MFF without having a clear vision of the European Union. First we have to see where we would like to be in the next 5, 7, 10, 15 years; which are our priorities, and then to decide how big and which kind of budget for our priorities we need. This is the approach which I like more than what we do in this moment.

SOUNDBITE (French), Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the EC, I hope very much that the members of the British Parliament today support the approach that has been adopted and adopt the added text representing the agreement that has been reached.

SOUNDBITE (French), Jean-Claude JUNCKER, President of the EC, Slovakia has the presidency of the Visegrad Group now and I would like you to take this opportunity today to try to put an end to this fruitless dispute between the East-Central Europe and the West of Europe.

SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Esteban GONZ&#193;LEZ PONS, You in the Council will have a lot on your plate very soon: you will be proposing a candidate for the presidency of the Commission. We would like to remind you that we cannot accept a candidate who has not been previously a candidate in the elections and that the candidate needs to be endorsed by a popular vote.

SOUNDBITE (English), Sophia IN&apos;T VELD (ALDE, NL), I hope and trust that you will choose leadership for the future and I'll be very concrete. I would strongly recommend that you break ranks with Mr. Fico, because he is the old Slovakia and you are the new Slovakia; and show the world that there is truly a new hand at the helm in Slovakia. You can also show them that the Visegrad Four is staunchly pro-European and not the vehicle of reactionary nationalist autocrats. It is very important that the guilty ones of the murder of Jan and Martina are brought to trial and not the ones who've actually carried out the murder and were arrested, but the brain behind it, because that is crucial for trust in the Slovak authorities.