Today morning in the Charles University in Prague, the President delivered a lecture on the views of Estonia on the enlargement of the European Union and NATO. The President emphasised the importance of the time factor in the European Union enlargment process, and that the enlarging European Union has to change itself, because standing still means stagnation. It would be useful for the European Union to use the experience obtained by Central European states in their current development, and their idealism, but also the dynamics of ongoing processes. In its enlargement, the European Union has to follow the principle that a state who is ready for enlargement is also ready to be accepted, and the resolutions on adoption into the European Union have to be made according to individual states, emphasised President Meri. The resolutions, however, have to be made with the knowledge that Europe can not afford to be unaware of what comes in the future, and that there have to be answers to all questions.

In his lecture today, the President also spoke about the enlargement process of NATO, which by now has been going on for ten years. The enlargement of NATO must continue, because interruption of the process would create questions about why has NATO chaged its policies. NATO is obliged to complete its enlargement and the nine states who apply for NATO membership do not compete with each other, but are each other's partners.

The enlargement of NATO can not be separated from the enlargment of the European Union. Even though these two organisations are not mechanically connected, every positive and negative signal about the enlargement of NATO has an impact on the security of Europe and thereby also on the European Union and its member states.

Rector of the Charles University Ivan Wilhelm gave the honorary medal of the university to Lennart Meri.

The full text of the speech made by the President is available on the Internet at the address www.president.ee


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, May 31, 2000

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