The President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani welcomed the first Slovak President to address the plenary chamber since the country joined the EU in 2004, by highlighting the importance of his speech in the midst of the debate on the future of the EU.

Slovak President Kiska rejected the idea that there are “fundamental flaws” in the EU’s architecture that will lead to a bleak future. “We don’t need a revolution” but rather to focus on “solving the issues together, helping each other and learning from each other”, he said.

Stop the blame-it-on-Brussels game

Mr Kiska also criticised the “blame-it-on-Brussels” game, presenting “all victories as national and all defeats as European”. While “anti-European populists and extremists cannot beat us in providing solutions to improve the life of our citizens,” it seems that “they beat us with their limitless (...) passion for their case”, he said. “We defend the right cause - the project of peace, prosperity and human dignity”, but the EU needs “stronger leadership, more confidence and devotion when acting and speaking up on behalf of the EU”, he stressed.

Call for closer, results-oriented cooperation

“Solidarity and mutual trust are crucial to our success and our strength to overcome whatever comes next”, said Andrej Kiska. He added that the EU should focus on “achieving convincing results”, rather than losing energy on debating a multi-speed Europe.

Stronger global EU and fight against fake news

The EU should have a “more ambitious foreign and security policy” and should not limit itself to being a “money-raising benefactor once the dust has settled”, Mr Kiska said. He also urged the EU “not [to] give up on enlargement”, as “a failure to offer hope” to EU neighbours “is empowering the adversaries of a prosperous, peaceful and integrated Europe”.

The EU must also be more active in fighting the Russian propaganda and information war, President Kiska stressed. “It would be a shame to let the European project fail, because of our inability to halt dissemination of hoaxes and fake news”, he said.

Click here to re-watch the whole speech and here to re-watch the press conference held by President Tajani and President Kiska.

Quick Facts

Mr Kiska, a former businessman and the co-founder of a charity that helps the families of children suffering from life-threatening diseases, was elected president in March 2014 as a non-partisan civic candidate. He assumed office in June 2014 for a term of five years.

Mr Kiska is the fourth President of the Slovak Republic and the third to be directly elected by the people. He will be the second Slovak President to deliver a speech in the Parliament, after Rudolf Schuster, who addressed the plenary in May 2001.

Following the 1989 Velvet Revolution and the break-up of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Slovakia became a member of the EU in 2004, joined the Schengen area in 2007 and adopted the euro as its currency in 2009. Slovakia held the Presidency of the EU Council for the first time in the second half of 2016.

Procedure: Formal sitting

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