EU Ambassador to Turkey Addresses Bilkent Students
On November 7, the FEASS GE 441 Interdisciplinary Senior Project Elective Course: European Union hosted Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, who has led the European Union delegation to Turkey since January 2012. The new FEASS course is being taught this semester by Assoc. Prof. Selin Sayek Böke from the Department of Economics and Asst. Prof. Ali Tekin from the Department of International Relations.
Jean-Maurice Ripert is a graduate of the Institute of Political Sciences and National School of Administration in Paris. His diplomatic career has included the position of advisor to France's minister of European Affairs, foreign minister and prime minister. He also served as ambassador to Greece as well as to the UN and the UN Security Council.
Mr. Ripert spoke about the EU as a "work in progress," stating that the current euro crisis can be overcome by more political integration, which will require further sharing of sovereignty and respect for the principles of discipline and solidarity.
The main focus of his remarks to the class concerned the state of affairs in Turkey-EU relations, with particular emphasis on recent developments in the accession process. Although he stressed the importance of reforms in areas identified as problematic in the most recent progress report, the ambassador was quite positive regarding the likelihood of Turkey's accession to the EU. Nonetheless, he cautioned that the Turkish Parliament should pass the required legislation as quickly as possible so that Europe's preoccupation with the euro crisis does not impair the accession process.
In answer to a question, Mr. Ripert said, pointing to the students in the classroom, "The next generation -- your generation -- should continue to fight for the European ideal." He concluded by saying, "Please don't give up on the EU; together we will be stronger, and we will contribute to making the whole world safer, more prosperous and more democractic."