Diplomats Praise European Solidarity, E.U. Expansion

Induction of Central European states into the European Union (E.U.) represents a new step toward European unification since the decline of communism, diplomats from four nations said last night at the Kennedy School of Government’s ARCO Forum.

A panel of ambassadors from Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic said that European solidarity will help to quash unemployment, economic weaknesses and corruption in their respective nations.

The four countries will take part in E.U. activities for the first time at a Dec. 13 meeting in Copenhagen.

“These next four weeks are going to be weeks that will change central Europe forever,” said Przemyslaw Grudzinski, Poland’s ambassador to the U.S. “We would like to conclude the epoch of these first 10 years after gaining independence with a bang, not a whimper.”

The Union offers Poland an opportunity to claim a meaningful role within Europe, he said.

The four panelists discussed the implications of E.U. membership, both nationally and in the fabric of global politics, in response to questions from moderator James A. Cooney, executive director of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.

Hungarian Ambassador to the U.S. András Simonyi said that an opportunity for modernization after 50 years of communist government motivated his nation’s eagerness for E.U. membership. Hungary’s participation in NATO, he said, has initiated a forward drive that he hopes the E.U. will perpetuate.

“One of the most important steps to E.U. membership was NATO,” said Simonyi, who was Hungary’s first permanent representative on the NATO Council. “NATO and the E.U., as far as I’m concerned, go hand in hand.”

Grudzinski, too, said that modernization under the E.U. could resolve some of Poland’s present problems. He cited his country’s common agricultural system as a particular weakness.

“The Polish agricultural sector is a burden,” he told the audience.

The challenge facing Poland under E.U. membership, he said, will be determining an appropriate approach to modernization.

Slovak ambassador to the U.S. Martin Bútora said that economic development within the E.U. will assuage his country’s rampant unemployment problem. Unemployment in some eastern regions of Slovakia has reached almost 40 percent, according to Cooney.

Martin Palou, Czech ambassador to the U.S., said the struggles that Central European nations face reflect the challenges of global democratization.

“We are part of a debate of what democracy means today,” he said, asking whether a modern democracy ought to be internationally focused or inward-looking.

Nathan Smith, a Kennedy School student, asked the panelists whether Central Europe favored an American social model based on a vigorous market economy or a Western European model centered on welfare support.

The ambassadors emphasized that their nations seek to integrate an American approach with their nations’ sociopolitical heritages.

“We are looking for U.S. solutions and are eager to embrace some U.S. solutions,” Simonyi said.

Bútora said the future of Central Europe, and of the continent as a whole, depends on common priorities that E.U. discussions seek to identify.

“What sort of Europe do countries want?” he asked.

All of the panelists concurred that continued expansion of the E.U. would ultimately strengthen Europe as a whole.

Grudzinski, however, anticipated that his country’s public would have to be convinced that the E.U. offered a legitimate route to European solidarity.

“We need to convince Poland that it should approach the European Union with a smiling face,” he said.

Simonyi said that European unification would surely face obstacles. He emphasized the need for cooperation not only among European nations but between Europe and the U.S.

“Are we going to be able to face these challenges?” he asked. “Yes. But we have to face these challenges together.”