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Slovenia ready to support strengthening Armenia-EU ties, says State Secretary Marko Štucin
7 minute read
YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS. Slovenia will definitely help Armenia on its path of strengthening ties with the EU, Marko Štucin, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia told Armenpress.
Štucin spoke about the Armenian democratic reforms and the Armenia-EU ties with Armenpress during the Yerevan Dialogue forum.
“Armenia in the last couple of years did some very important steps,” State Secretary Marko Štucin said. “And from the perspective of European Union member states, for example from Slovenia, I think that it's very visible that Armenia took the right path when it comes to the reform process, when it comes to the democratization process, when it comes to the rule of law. Even if you're walking around the city of Yerevan, as I did this, I think one can see that the city and the society changed in the last couple of years. And today Yerevan resembles many EU capitals. And one can see that Armenian society is a vibrant society, a young society, a society that goes into the right direction.”
He said that Armenia is on the right path and the reforms should be continuous.
“The reforms are, of course, still needed, so the process didn't finish yet. But that's not only true for Armenia. Also, when I'm speaking about my country, Slovenia, that is a member of European Union for the last 20 years, I would say the same, that also in our case the process of democratization and rule of law-based society is still continuous. This process doesn't bring you to an end. Democracy is something that you have to work on all the time, so you cannot stop. So even when you achieve a very high level of democracy, you still have to work to, first of all, to preserve it, and also to make the society better. There is one example. In European Union we have so-called rule of law report. The European Commission every year, in summer usually, publishes a rule of law report for every member state. Also for older member states like Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany and so on. And also in their cases European Commission would find shortcomings and would encourage them to work towards, you know, to remove those shortcomings. The same is valid for Slovenia and the same is valid for Armenia. So Armenia is on the right path, but the reform process is long and continuous all the time.”
Asked whether democracy and the steps towards democracy can be basis for ensuring the security of the country, the Slovenian official said, “Look, nowadays, especially now when we are facing the war in Ukraine, also things that happened here in Armenia, we hear time to time that it's better for safety and security if we transform our societies in more autocratic way. But the question is from whom we hear these arguments. Usually we hear these arguments from autocrats themselves or the politicians that want to become autocrats in their own society. The practice would show very clear argument that democracy works. And I'm speaking again about European Union. European Union is still a peace process. So after the Second World War, Germany, France and other countries came together, established a coal and steel community after the Second World War that develops then later in what is today European Union. In its core, this process is a process of democratization of Europe. And what is the result today? Almost 70 years since the Second World War started and since this European integration began, there was no single armed conflict between any of the member states. This proves you that if you implement democracy, if you are working on democratization all the time, if you are building a rule-based society, this example proves you that it brings peace and security.”
He said that whatever steps Armenia will do to make the ties stronger with European Union, it will be for the benefit of its citizens. Štucin said Slovenia will support the strengthening of the Armenia-EU ties.
“We take a general position that every country, every European country that has European ambitions, that wants to become a member of European Union one day, should be given a chance. Of course, it's up to the country itself to try and to really then fulfill all the criteria. It's a long process, a very long process. So, if you ask me for a general position, I would say everybody that wants to come to the European Union is welcome here if the country fulfills the criteria. Now, Slovenia is, of course, in a different geographical position as Armenia. We are very similar countries. But geography is different. And this plays a role. I would put it like this. Armenia should definitely continue to look towards European Union and to make ties with European Union stronger. Slovenia, as a similar country, will definitely help Armenia in this way. We can send experts. We can help with people that were active in our case or were active also in Western Balkans, with the countries that are using our experiences. We are ready to offer this help. And I'm also meeting with my Armenian counterparts these days to offer this help, very concrete help from Slovenia. But at the end of the day, it's a long process. And it's difficult to say at this point what the end result will be. But whatever steps Armenia will do to make the ties stronger with European Union, it will be for the benefit of its citizens,” he added.