On Wednesday, State authorities celebrated 20 years of Slovakia membership in the European Union. Slovakia entered the grouping along with 9 other countries: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovenia. It was the most extensive enlargement in the EU history. This membership includes rights as well as responsibilities. For 20 years, Slovaks can freely work, travel and study in other member states. The common market has brought advantages to Slovak business entities. At the end of 2007, Slovakia entered the Schengen area, i.e. with no border controls among its member states. After meeting the necessary criteria, it became a member of the monetary union in 2008 adopting EUR as its currency.
“The Slovak Republic as an independent, sovereign state is a success story. A part of this success is our EU membership. If we compare Slovakia before and after its EU entry, we can see huge benefits,” said for public broadcaster RTVS, the Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar.
Radovan Geist, a Euractiv portal analyst adds: “We are a member of an economic unit that is stronger than our small country but at the same time we can take part in deciding how it will develop.”
RTVS, Karolina Kucerova
