Ondřej Soukup: there is no dictate from Brussels

02.09.2022, 16:56 newssky.com.ua

Ondřej Soukup Ondřej Soukup, editor-in-chief of the Prague publication Hospodářské noviny, commented to the Newssky the issue of promotion from application to membership: «The Velvet Revolution of 1989 took place under the slogan «Return to Europe». If someone had told me, an enthusiastic student, that we would join the EU only in 2004, I probably wouldn’t have believed him. After all, I didn’t even know what it meant, what aquis communitaire is, how decisions are made in Europe. We gained candidate status in 1997, and it took another seven years to become a full member. Laws and regulations need to be changed, but most importantly, learn how to protect your interests in the EU, explain your needs to your partners, and also explain to your company some of the rules that apply in the EU. And what is probably the most important thing, and I believe that it was not very successful in the Czech Republic, is to understand that there is no dictate from Brussels. Now Prague has, and later Kyiv will have a seat at the table where those decisions are made.» In Ukrainian Maryna Kovalchuk, Newssky, contributed