 Caeraisia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia, Herzegovina ac y Ffórm Rhyw Gyslaw Republic o Macedonia yn cael eu prosesu i'r integratio Europea ac mae'n gweithio gyda'r ffordd i Europea. Gwyddo i'r gweithio'n ddechrau? Yn ddechrau'n ddysgu'r droswyr Llinigio? Is it delivering the results and reforms that we all aspire to? That is, I suppose, what we will examine in much greater detail as we go through our various sessions today. But before we focus on that, however, I want to reflect for a moment on one of the challenges we in the European Union have to overcome. I've spent a lot of time visiting the countries of the Western Balkans over the last number of years. Firstly, as a youth activist, as a member of opposition in our parliament, as a representative of different NGOs, and of course more recently as the Irish Minister for European Affairs, and particularly in the context of Ireland's EU presidency. And I'm always struck by the immense EU enthusiasm and sense of expectation that prevails among all people, young and old, in the candidate and prospective candidate countries. But is there the same sense of excitement in the existing EU member states? Have we really explained the concept and the necessity for enlargement, particularly in the Western Balkans? Have we allowed the economic crisis to consume us so that we become somewhat insular and perhaps not so fully focused on enlargement as we should be? I think that we are guilty as charged. I think we need to reinvigorate the reform process in the Western Balkans, that's absolutely clear. But at the same time, we need to remind citizens and remind ourselves in the EU member states that enlargement is a powerful and necessary policy tool of the EU, one that has benefited us and will benefit all of us in the future. After all, we're simply speaking of the continued reunification of Europe. That's what this is all about. And some people might believe that Europe was reunified after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. I disagree. That, in my opinion, was merely a catalyst for a process that continues today. We have a moral and we have a strategic interest in completing this process of reunification today and tomorrow. Some forget that the EU treaties are clear on the question of enlargement. Any European country which fulfills the criteria and shares our European values can join. And we all know that the countries of the Western Balkans are very much European, just as much as Ireland or Austria or any of the other countries of Europe. They are a hugely important part of our rich shared European history, our diverse heritage and culture, and they subscribe to our common European values, the values that are well rehearsed and known to all of us, values of democracy, freedom of expression, respect for human life, rule of law, and so on. And these are the things that bind us together as Europeans. It is simply logical that we, EU Member States, embrace our fellow Europeans and work hard to ensure that in due course we welcome them back into the European family, into the European Union. We must continually remind ourselves and our citizens that EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, while clearly representing great challenges, and we will discuss them today, primarily offers all of us great opportunity. An opportunity firstly to end the division of our continent by reconciling the region with the rest of the continent, as I've mentioned, realising the goal of European reunification. Secondly, and of course of particular note, at a time of great uncertainty within the Union, we have an economic interest, and to ignore the potential offered by the expansion of the single market, the opening up of new business opportunities for citizens in the region and citizens of the EU would be clearly myopic. I heard some Eurosceptics in the European Parliament the other day claim that accession should be halted to prevent so-called poorer countries joining the EU and taking all of our jobs. This is the sort of classic scare mongering that we have an absolute imperative and a moral duty to dispel. In 2004, when 10 new Member States joined, their respective country GDP levels averaged at about 55% of the European Union. We have seen remarkable transformation since then with rapid development and growth in all of their economies. Today, Poland, for example, ranks 20th in the world in terms of GDP. These new Member States have added a dynamism to the European economy, which would clearly be lamentably absent today where it left simply to so-called old Europe. The same potential exists for all of the countries that we are discussing here today. And thirdly and finally, the security risks of not pursuing enlargement in the Balkans are great. After the Second World War, many Europeans believed that conflict would not and could not revisit our European shores. Sadly, they were proven wrong with the breakout of the Balkans war and we saw the loss of tens of thousands of European lives. It's in all of our interests to ensure that peace and stability, which we now enjoy all over the continent of Europe, is maintained, is preserved, is protected and is fought for. Prosperity cannot follow until we are assured of peace and stability. So, I just want to, in concluding, recall the words of the great Helmocole on the occasion of the 2004 round of enlargement when he said, we never want to wage war again against each other. We want to honour the dead and tend to the graves, but we never again want to have soldiers' tomes in Europe. That is the most important reason for a united Europe. I would add that this is also the most important reason for the enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans. We in the European Union must do everything in our power to support, to encourage and to practically assist those countries to realise their full European potential. And it goes without saying, of course, that they must engage intensively to ensure that they fill all of the criteria so that we can be reunited without delay. It's a two-way process, one that offers us hugely exciting opportunities for the whole of our continent. And I very much look forward to the discussion, the debate and the insight that we will hear and have shared here today. So, without further delay, I would like to take the opportunity to once again welcome all of you here to Farmley House to Dublin for this important 10-year anniversary of the Thessaloniki Declaration and hand over the floor to my friend and colleague at the Tawnishtha, our Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Eamon Gilmour. Thank you.