Dostihne Slovensko své sousedy na cestě do Evropské unie?

Abstract

Political representatives of the Slovak Republic from the day of its inception declared their unambiguous interest in membership in the European Union. This was an axiom on which virtually all political forces with the exception of the nationalist SNS and the ultra-left ZRS agreed; the latter two adopted a reticent and even a negative attitude to this problem. These two subjects were the only ones which expressed their readiness to cooperate with HZDS, following the early general elections in 1994. This was clearly reflected in the foreign political line of the new government.
Slovakia lagged behind its neighbours on the road towards integration, despite the fact that its government fulfilled its administrative tasks in coming closer to the European Union in a by and large satisfactory manner. The primary reason why Slovakia did not become a member of NATO, and why in 1997 the European Union did not invite it to talks on accession were that it failed to accomplish the fundamental criteria for integration in European and Trans-Atlantic structures.
A radical change in this direction took place after the general elections in 1998 when a coalition of four pro-European parties was formed. Although not even this grouping avoided making mistakes and creating shortcomings, once it came to power principles of parliamentary democracy were carried out systematically, the conditions were being created for a meaningful activity in all constitutional institutions and the rule of law was finally introduced. Contrary to the previous team, the procedure of M. Dzurinda’s Cabinet in the field of fulfilling the integration objectives was well-considered, properly targeted and entirely credible. It intensified relations with the member states of the Union and with those engaged in pre-accession negotiations.
The efforts of the coalition of the four parties but also of a number of other state and non-governmental institutions aimed at becoming involved in the integration endeavours of the neighbours, backed by the majority of Slovak society, was brought to a successful conclusion on 11 December 1999, when on its Helsinki summit the European Council decided to commence talks with Slovakia on its accession to the European Union. The conditions to make up for the loss of two years, compared to its neighbours, were created when this institution decided to conduct negotiations with the applications for membership individually, and adjust the pace of this process to their state of preparedness.
Slovakia successfully started the process of negotiations with the European Union in March 2000. The question whether in all matters of substance this will lead to positive results and whether it will catch up with its neighbours will depend first and foremost on the consistency of its current government and on political stability in the country.