Galery

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On the other hand, Bulgaria proposed Kristalina Georgieva for the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. What are her chances of succeeding Catherine Ashton in this post?

I am familiar with the excellent opinions of her previous work. I think the main obstacle will be the application of Italy’s Foreign Minister Federica Magerini. The Italian Prime Minister insists on her taking this post.

It is also likely that this high post be granted to the UK as a compensation for the defeat of David Cameron in connection with the election of the European Commission President. It all depends on the nominees.

An agreement to associate the Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to the European Union was signed a few days ago. It is a step in the right direction. Why was it taken so late?

It was late primarily because the new president of Ukraine had to be elected. Brussels wanted these three contracts to be signed at the same time in order to send the message that the Union is expanding.  If former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych had not totally changed his position things would have happened earlier.

Do you think that the support for the Eurosceptics will be increasing?

This depends on some decisions that Europe is obliged to make. For example, it is now abundantly clear that the UK citizens do not want their country to continue to be an EU member in today’s reality.

Because the euro area has gained great potential inside the EU, the membership in it will probably be diverse in the coming years. Angela Merkel even hinted at the following things during her recent press conference: strengthening the democratic and political structure of the euro area on the one hand, forming a group of countries that are close to their euro area membership on the other, whereas another group will include those countries that do not support the political consolidation and want to maintain their independence on certain issues. This kind of relationship exists now between the EU and Norway and Switzerland.

I think it is not excluded that some countries will focus on this kind of cooperation. If no other alternative is found and the political consolidation continues with the same rhythm, and if the euro area continues plating a leading role in some countries where the anti-European attitudes are already a fact, these attitudes will intensify even more.