Never before has there been so much pro-Taiwan sentiment in the European Union. Those were the remarks from Slovakia Member of European Parliament Ivan Štefanec in a recent interview with Radio Taiwan International.
He said the EU is increasingly seeing the importance of cooperating with democracies and that the EU “should support Taiwan and not China.” He also cited the Taiwan-EU report that was passed in the EU Parliament this year as proof of growing support for Taiwan. The report suggests that the EU negotiates a bilateral investment agreement with Taiwan.
Štefanec is a longtime friend of Taiwan. He is the former chair of the Slovakian Parliamentary Taiwan Friendship Group and the Slovakia-Taiwan Chamber of Commerce.
He said the recent “official state visit” by a Slovakia delegation led by the 2nd State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy shows the growing ties between Taiwan and Slovakia. About the trip, Štefanec said he was proud to see the use of a government plane - the first from Europe - to land in Taiwan, and said this shows the nation is serious about strengthening ties.
When asked if Slovakia was concerned about retaliation from Beijing, he said China “protests all the time”, including when he led a parliamentary delegation to Taiwan in 2011. He also mentioned that China has “lost a lot of credibility” in the EU due to the coronavirus. More and more European countries see the need to build ties based on shared values with “true friends”. As a Member of the European Parliament, Štefanec said Taiwan has “a lot of friends” on the European level.