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Czechs are marking 15 years as EU members this month. With elections to the European Parliament only days away, the nation’s prime minister, foreign minister, and one Commissioner in Brussels are voicing differing views on the benefits and responsibilities of EU membership and the challenges ahead.

There is no alternative to EU membership for the Czech Republic and the country is not looking for any alternate options, Czech Foreign Minister Tomáš Petřícek stressed at an international conference at Černín Palace marking 15 years of Czech membership in the EU.

Minister Petříček said there was more to EU membership than just economic interests, emphasizing that by joining the alliance the Czech Republic had joined a community of nations sharing the same democratic values.

EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová said the Czech Republic had greatly benefitted from EU membership and stressed that EU decisions were based on a broad consensus, so that no country left the negotiating table with a sense of defeat.

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš called for EU reform, stressing the need to strengthen the role of individual member states.

A recent study conducted by the polling agency MEDIAN for the think-tank Moje Evropa revealed a more complex division of Czech voters than the often posited pro-EU vs anti-EU divide. According to some experts, who looked at the results, Czechs are not as Eurosceptic as many perceive them to be, but they often trust too much in myths.

EU leaders are meeting in Sibiu, Romania on Thursday for a summit that was originally intended to affirm post-Brexit unity and chart a course for future development. Although member states are expected to adopt a declaration of “unity and confidence in the future”, the summit is overshadowed by uncertainty regarding the outcome of European elections, due later this month, and the many question marks surrounding Brexit.

Prague is marking the fifteenth anniversary of Czech accession to the European Union with an open-air festival on Střelecký Island on Thursday.

The free festival features concerts, competitions and games for families, along with presentations by EU institutions and member states, and a political debate.

In the musical part, Concert for Europe, Milan Svoboda will perform with the Prague big band, featuring Ondřej Brzobohatý, Matěj Ruppert, and Jiří Stivín. Also appearing are Rapper Kato with his band Prago Union and Circus Problem.

Taking part in a public debate are EU commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová, Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček (Social Democrats) and Mayor of Prague Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates).

Czech politicians have been highlighting the importance of Czech membership in the EU, as Czechs mark 15 years in the alliance.

Deputy Prime Minister and Social Democrat leader Jan Hamáček said the EU had given the country economic and political stability as well as security. “There is no alternative to EU membership and those who say so are lying,” Hamáček said.

“Fifteen years ago today the dream of many generations came true,” Foreign Minister Tomas Petříček wrote on Twitter. “The Czech Republic became a fully-fledged member of the European family of free and democratic nations. Like every family the EU has good days and bad days, but the fate of this family, and our own, is in our hands, that is something we should value highly,” Petricek wrote.

Petr Fiala, leader of the centre-right Civic Democrats said he was proud it was his party which brought the Czech Republic to NATO and the EU. “After 40 long years of totalitarian rule the Czechs returned to the European fold of democratic nations where they belong,” Fiala said.

15 years after three-quarters of the electorate voted to join the EU, the Czech Republic is commonly referred to as one of the union’s most Eurosceptic countries. But how did this come about and is it as serious a problem as some make it out to be?

The majority of Czechs wish to remain in the European Union and are satisfied with the country’s membership of the bloc, suggests a poll conducted by Behavio, STEM and Europeum at the turn of the year. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they were content with Czech membership; a similar study some years ago found that only around one-third were satisfied, while in 2018 the figure stood at 45 percent.

Some 11 percent of the population would like the country to quit the EU immediately, the poll indicates. Another 27 percent of those questioned said they would be in favour of leaving if the EU doesn’t undergo reform.

How have Czech perceptions of the EU changed since the country joined the bloc on May 1, 2004? Has the Brexit mess impacted discussion of a potential Czech departure from the EU? Will the country ever adopt the Euro? And what should we be looking out for in the European Parliament elections in a few weeks’ time? These were just some of the issues Ian Willoughby discussed in Olomouc recently with a number of experts: sociologist Jan Hartl of the STEM polling agency; Karel Barták, a former CTK journalist who was a Brussels insider during a lengthy

The 15th anniversary of the country’s membership in the EU on May 1st, is a good time to take stock of what the country has gained through membership, what it expects from it in the future and how it can contribute to the alliance, EU Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová said in an interview for the ctk news agency.

Jourová, who is Czech, said she had the impression that once Czechs had gained membership in the EU they had become less active. She said the country should be more involved, more aware of the benefits of membership and better prepared to defend its interests.