European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle on Thursday, March 3, said that the unrest in North Africa would not have any negative effect on the process of EU enlargement. Füle was speaking at the GLOBSEC security conference in Bratislava.
"I don't see any direct nor indirect relation in this," Füle said, as quoted by the TASR newswire, adding that the EU must, however, react to the events in North Africa. The changes will be incorporated into the ongoing revision of the EU's neighbourhood policy, he announced.
"This strategic reflection implies that we'll have to adopt a differentiated approach vis-a-vis our partners; we'll have to put more accent on the need to support democratic forces. We'll insist on not having the neighbourhood policy about relations between the EU and autocratic regimes in neighbouring countries, but about relations between the EU and civil society, and between the union and citizens of a given state," Füle said. It is necessary that the EU is able to provide material and financial support for countries such as Tunisia and Egypt, with the aim of covering their immediate needs, Füle added.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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