On 18–19 June 2025, Taormina in Italy hosted an event dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Messina Conference, focusing on the future of the European Union, the necessary reforms and the enlargement process. The event was attended by all the EU Member States, as well as candidates and potential candidate countries. Latvia was represented at this meeting by Artjoms Uršuļskis, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Russia’s war against Ukraine has marked the need for the European Union to play a greater role in security policy, as well as increasing its resilience and defence capabilities,” the Parliamentary Secretary said at the meeting. Artjoms Uršuļskis underlined that, with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in its fourth year, it is particularly important to decide on the matters and reforms vital for a future European Union.
In the context of EU enlargement, Artjoms Uršuļskis emphasised: “Current geopolitical context attaches additional importance to the enlargement process of the European Union, historically its strongest geopolitical tool.” The Parliamentary Secretary also pointed out that the enlargement process is equal for all candidate countries and based the individual contribution and merits of each one of them: “The internal reforms of the European Union must not interfere with the progress of candidate countries in their accession negotiations.”
The meeting highlighted the fundamental significance of values and the rule of law both in a future EU and in the enlargement process, as well as underscoring the need to strengthen the single market and its functionality. Particular attention was paid to the EU’s future Multiannual Financial Framework, or the long-term budget, which will play an important role in maintaining the level of EU ambition and in implementing the potential enlargement.
In conclusion of the meeting all the 27 EU Member States signed a Joint Declaration.
For information
2025 sees the 70th anniversary of the Messina-Tormina Conference held from 1 June to 3 June 1955 in Messina and Taormina, Italy, which brought together six foreign ministers of the European Coal and Steel Community, ECSC: Gaetano Martino, Italy; Johan Willem Beyen, the Netherlands; Antoine Pinay, France; Joseph Bech, Luxembourg; Walter Hallstein, Germany; and Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgium, with the aim of relaunching the European process after the unexpected failure of the European Defence Community project. As the result, the treaties establishing Euratom and the European Economic Community were signed some years later in Rome, which is regarded as a historic milestone for European integration.