| Forty years after the Hungarian struggle for freedom, led by lmre Nagyi,
European Socialists and Social Democrats are meeting in Budapest. This is the
first time that the leaders of member parties of the Party of European
Socialists have met outside of the European Union together with the leaders of
the PES observer parties from Central and Eastern Europe. This meeting is of
great historical importance to European social democrats and democratic
socialists. |
| Enlargement of the European Union is both a political necessity and a
historic opportunity for Europe. Socialists and Social Democrats support the
process of enlargement. It will be a dynamic process which will bring benefits
both to the current members and the applicant States, but it will also change
the character of the Union. The enlargement negotiations should begin with all
applicant countries six months after the conclusion of the IGC. A country by
country approach should be applied based on strict and objective criteria.
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| Socialists and social democrats carry a special responsibility being a
decisive political force in the European Union and an increasingly important
political force in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Without proper
preparation enlargement might lead to a multi-speed Union and one that is no
more than a free-trade area. That is not our Europe. Therefore, the applicant
states have to prepare for accession and the European Union has to adapt its
policies and working methods to allow enlargement to take place. In Budapest
socialists and social democrats from the European Union and the applicant States
started the process of cooperation to ensure that our Europe is a Europe of
employment and growth, economic and social cohesion, environmental protection
and of peace and security for all its citizens. We look forward to developing
this cooperation at the PES Congress that will be held in Malmo in June 1997.
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