Today, we are celebrating the 72nd anniversary of the Schuman Declaration as “Europe Day" in our country together with all European people. The Declaration has laid the foundations of the European integration and the European Union (EU).

On this year’s Europe Day, which we are celebrating under the shadow of Ukraine war, we realised once again how difficult and precious it is to protect peace. The tragedy in Ukraine, occurring in the 21st century in the middle of Europe and taking us back to the Europe of 1940’s, is a warning sign for all of us. This war, which will radically change the post-Cold War security architecture, is a milestone for the future of Europe.

Nowadays the European project is being challenged by many threats. In addition to hot wars and conflicts, global uncertainties, climate change, energy dependency, terrorism and irregular migration deeply affect Europe. Besides, extremist trends such as discrimination, xenophobia and Islamophobia cause the erosion of the Union's culture of coexistence and shake the foundation of the common values on which Europe is built.

As a candidate country and NATO ally, Türkiye is the key country in the solution of all these challenges. Although certain circles, especially within the EU, sometimes present our country as a competitor or even a threat, Türkiye has made significant contributions to the stability and prosperity of the continent by making many sacrifices for the security of Europe both during and after the Cold War. Türkiye continues to follow a constructive policy in order to develop cooperation and dialogue in all fields within the framework of the EU membership process, which is its strategic goal.

I would like to congratulate the 9 May Europe Day of all our citizens and the other European people.