The Diplomat
Slovenia’s Ambassador to Spain, Robert Kremjl, warned on Thursday of the need for the European Union to maintain its cohesion in the face of any destabilising attack from Moscow.
Kmelj took part in a conference organised by Paneuropa, in which he outlined the challenges facing the EU during Slovenia’s rotating Presidency in the second half of 2021 and the situation in his country, where parliamentary and presidential elections will be held in April and October 2022, respectively.
The ambassador pointed out five main ideas for the EU to face its challenges in the coming years: the strengthening of its strategic autonomy, EU health unification, the fight against climate change, the defence of a cohesive rule of law and the improvement of neighbourly relations, with special emphasis on Russia.
On the point of strategic autonomy, he referred to the joint response of the 27 to cyber-attacks, progress against pandemics and climate objectives. On the latter two, he advocated greater coordination between European administrations and a debate on the increase in energy prices, with the recently held COP 26 in Glasgow in mind. On this point, he stressed that a new low-carbon circular economy would mean a paradigm shift in the form of production and consumption for better care of the environment.
In the field of technology, alongside the problem of cyber attacks, he stressed the importance of artificial intelligence, an issue that is increasingly being addressed in talks between EU partners because of its implications for the current welfare state and employment model.
On the rule of law, Krmelj called for more stability among the 27 to safeguard the protection of freedom of expression by member states’ institutions. He also welcomed the fact that the Conference on the Future of Europe had already begun, highlighting the dialogues held with Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro with a view to their possible EU membership.
Beyond the intra-EU sphere, the ambassador affirmed that there is close cooperation between Brussels and Washington, and admitted that there are many difficulties in the EU’s relations with Russia and China, although he wanted to make clear the good intentions of rapprochement with these two powers, especially with the republic of the Urals, as a country of the Old Continent.
Nonetheless, he called for an image of cohesion among the EU partners in order to face any destabilising challenge posed by the Kremlin and to help in the democratisation process in states such as Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.
Paneuropa España is chaired by Florentino Portero and its secretary general is Carlos Uriarte Sánchez. It belongs to the International Pan-European Union, an organisation founded in 1922 by Ricardo Coudenhove-Kalergi and whose president for more than thirty years was Otto of Habsburg. Paneuropa advocates the construction of a united Europe based on Christian humanism, freedom and the rule of law.
