Donald Tusk Visits Slovenia, Says EU’s Fundamental Values Cannot Be Negotiated
STA, 4 September 2020 - Donald Tusk, the president of the European People's Party (EPP), visited Slovenia on Friday to honour the 20th anniversary of New Slovenia (NSi), underscoring that even though EU countries and EPP parties may pursue different interests, the EU's fundamental values such as freedom of speech, tolerance and the rule of law, are non-negotiable.
Tusk, the former Polish prime minister and former president of the European Council, is due to address the NSi anniversary ceremony in the afternoon, while he also met Prime Minister Janez Janša over a working lunch. Both the NSi and Janša's Democratic Party (SDS) are member of the EPP.
Addressing reporters in the morning, both Tusk and NSi leader Matej Tonin noted the significance of Europe and its fundamental values, emphasizing that the EU should remain united in the face of the many challenges and should overcome divisions between north and south and east and west. "We are all different, but there's no need that we are divided," Tusk quoted what he said Tonin often said.
My statement on the occasion of my visit to Slovenia to celebrate the 20th anniversary of EPP member party @NovaSlovenija https://t.co/Rf0z3t1NxV#20letNSi pic.twitter.com/cXU5O97fuv
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtuskEPP) September 4, 2020
An honour to speak at the 20th anniversary of @NovaSlovenija with president Matej Tonin, among friends.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtuskEPP) September 4, 2020
Verjamem v Nova Slovenija! https://t.co/IyDhh99JH2 pic.twitter.com/QERZfwJyAl
"For me the most important criteria is our fundamental values (...) I will never negotiate values like freedom, freedom of speech, free media, tolerance, human rights, rule of law, corruption," Tusk said in response to several questions from journalists about the rift within the EU and the EPP.
Also when commenting on the developments in Poland and Hungary that prompted the European Commission's procedure over the allegations that the rule of law is at risk, Tusk insisted that when freedom was at stake, there was no room for negotiation.
He pledged to do all in his power so that the EPP can take a vote as soon as possible on expelling the Fidesz party of the Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. The vote was demanded in April by 13 EPP members, but has so far been prevented by the pandemic.
About the position of Slovenian parties he said that Janša and Orban were not just friends but close political collaborators and that the SDS was closer to Orban in the EPP than to him. However, he also said that there was pluralism in the EPP and that as long he had partners like Tonin by his side, he felt "confident about preserving our values and principles".
Asked about the assessment that under the SDS guide Slovenia's foreign policy was turning away from the old European core towards the Visegrad Four, Tusk said EU members had various interests and there was nothing contentious when they tried establish special relations with some countries, including China or Russia. But "the price must not be too high and we should never renounce our European values".
Tonin said his party's efforts throughout its 20-year history had been focused to benefit the homeland. "We understand centre ground as a political party that is capable of linking the left and the right for the sake of the homeland, we believe in dialogue and that by talking it is possible to overcome differences, achieve change and ensure progress and a better future for Slovenia."
Tusk lauded the NSi as "the hope not only for many Slovenians, but for the whole European Christian Democracy. "You have proven that an indeed not easy synthesis of tradition, modernity and freedom is possible. That one can defend their values and not attack others, that an ideal of an open and tolerant society is reconcilable with effective governance."
He congratulated Slovenia for coping well with the pandemic, thus demonstrating that "democrats can be more effective than autocrats also in the time of a grave crisis, and that one does not have to restrict freedom and rights in order to ensure safety and security of their citizens".
