Below you will find an excerpt of the interview with Latvian PM Laimdota Straujuma. We underlined some of the key expressions in the text. Expand your vocabulary by reading the text and checking out the meaning of the expressions below.
If you want to read the whole interview, click here.
Ahead of the Eastern Partnership summit in May, Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma of Latvia, which currently holds the Presidency of the EU, warned that if necessary, Article 5 of the NATO treaty (1) will be enforced. We will not go back to the Soviet Union, she told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.
Laimdota Straujuma spoke to EurActiv’s Editor-in-Chief, Daniela Vincenti.
Europe is slowly but surely returning to economic growth. Structural reforms and investment (2) are at the core of speeding up a sustainable recovery. Latvia is a success story that shows the way. How can this inspire others?
As you already said, structural reforms, budget consolidation, export promotion and investment attraction are the tools Latvia used in order to achieve one of the fastest growth rates in the EU. I have been to various forums in different countries. I don’t see any options other than attracting investment, promoting exports and (3) boosting competitiveness, including competitive education, and structural reforms. Those are the (4) prerequisites for having the money that we spend.
One of the major problems in Europe is investment. The Juncker Plan aims to (5) relaunch investment and confidence in the EU. Will this be your (6) legacy?
I am very happy that on 10 March, EU finance ministers, in ECOFIN, approved the European investment plan in the Council. The European Parliament President Martin Schulz was also present, and he promised that the Parliament would do its best to make sure that the Juncker Plan was approved during the Latvian Presidency.
I have talked to him myself, and I have spoken to all the major political groups in the European Parliament, and they have all promised to support this plan. On the other hand, it is very important to make sure that the structural funds are launched as soon as possible.
There is obviously a clear political (7) momentum to move towards an EU security strategy. What do you want to achieve?
We will start debating the security policy in the near future. I don’t suppose we will manage to go through all the rounds of negotiations quickly, but we will have to proceed step by step. We have managed to (8) push through the Directive on Passenger Name Record (PNR) data, which is now being negotiated in the European Parliament, and I hope they will adopt it. But to ensure security and safety, a lot of coordination and information exchange is required.
VOCABULARY – ANSWER KEY
(1) to enforce: (here) to make the article of the Treaty implemented
(2) to be at the core.. : to be the basic element of something
(3) to boost : to foster, to promote
(4) prerequisite: precondition
(5) to relaunch : to make a new attempt, to restart
(6) legacy: (here) something that remains after you leave office
(7) momentum: the force that keeps an event developing
(8) to push through : (here) to get it adopted
