The French Minister of State for European Affairs, Lawrence Bonne, considered that the presence of ten countries on the waiting list to join the European Union requires a review of policies and changes in budgets and institutions, in preparation for their arrival.
French Minister of State for European Affairs Laurence Bonne said in an interview Friday that the enlargement of the European Union to include Ukraine and possibly ten other countries is a “mini-revolution”.
“The question is not whether or when we should expand, the real question is how” that can be done, Bonn told Europe 1 radio.
Bonn was a member of the delegation that accompanied President Emmanuel Macron to Chisinau to attend the summit of the European Political Community, which includes 47 countries.
“With 10 countries on the waiting list, it will be a huge shock for the European Union,” Bonn said, which it must “manage.” And because it is not just about helping these countries make the necessary reforms to allow them to join, the EU must prepare for their arrival.
“This means reconsidering our policies and making changes in budgets and institutions,” she explained, noting that this will be the next “work of the decade.” She also defended the importance of the enlargement of the European Union with the war in Ukraine.
“Russia is waging a war on us too, a war of disinformation, with energy prices,” she said. She added that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goal is to “destabilize the European Union”. And she added that in the face of this reality, “the European Union family is getting closer.”
And she believed that the “weaker” countries should be “helped better,” explaining that “we give them a lot of money, but we do not help them manage themselves. We will do things differently.”
She added that enlargement “is like a business for action so it’s a small revolution.”
In addition to Ukraine, Moldova received official candidate status in June 2022, and other countries such as Georgia hope to be next on the list.
