The EUCommission president was frank about the challenges facing the bloc.



I believe thenext 12 months are decisive if we want to reunite our union, if we want toovercome the divisions between East and West, which have opened up in recentmonths, he said.



Those divisionsthreaten to overshadow the informal meeting of EU heads of state scheduledFriday in Bratislava.



Some of theseissues between member states of the EU are existential, they're not simply amatter of personalities. They are about the construction of the European Union,said Stephen Booth.



Eastern memberstates, including Slovakia, have resisted Brussels' plans for a compulsoryquota system to resettle refugees across the EU. The dispute escalated thisweek when Luxembourg's foreign minister said Hungary should be expelled fromthe bloc for its hardline stance on the refugee crisis, which included erectinga border fence to keep out migrants.



I am urging theSlovak presidency to bridge the divergences and differences between those whoare reluctant to integrate refugees in their societies and those who are convinced,as I am, that the fair share in the relocation and resettlement is of theessence, said the EU President..



But thedivergences between east and west go beyond the refugee crisis, says analystStephen Booth.



"Particularlyafter the Brexit vote, the eastern European member states talk much more aboutsort of transferring power away from the institutions. But I think some of thedynamics aren't just between east and west. They are actually between theBrussels institutions, their view of what the EU might and should look like,and an increasing desire from all member states to sort of have a much moreintergovernmental approach," he said.



The Brexit votestill dominates debate in the EU, but in seeking a common cause to unify afractured union. UK proposed stronger military cooperation.



"We musthave a European headquarters. We must also organize ourselves to work toward acommon military force and this should be in complement with NATO. More Europeandefense in Europe doesn't mean less transatlantic solidarity," said the EUPresident.



A commonEuropean Union military force was something Britain had long resisted, but itsinfluence is already diminished. Britain went to have a seat at the table ofFriday summit.



欧盟委员会主席对整个欧盟目前所面临的诸多挑战直言不讳。



我认为，我们若想让欧盟凝聚起来，若想弥合越来越大的东西欧分歧，那么未来的一年将具有决定性作用，欧盟主席如是说道。



周五在斯洛伐克首都伯拉第斯拉瓦举行的非正式欧盟政府首脑会议上，他言及的种种分歧笼罩着整场会议。



欧盟成员国之间现存的一些问题并不仅仅关乎某个成员国自身，而是关乎整个欧盟的架构，伦敦研究机构Open Europe的联席主管斯蒂芬如是说。



包括斯洛伐克在内的一些东欧成员国反对欧盟提出的强制分摊难民配额方案。在难民危机的问题上，匈牙利站定强硬立场，甚至提出设立边境铁丝网以阻隔难民进入其境内。而本周卢森堡外交部长针对该强硬立场而提出将匈牙利赶出欧盟之举让这场难民危机的争论更加白热化。



欧盟主席表示，有些国家不愿意接收难民，而有些国家像我一样认为重新安置难民是每个成员国责无旁贷的义务，是解决难民危机的根本所在。在此，我希望斯洛伐克总统能够弥合这两种观点之间的分歧。



而斯蒂芬指出，东西欧之间的种种分歧不止是在难民危机的问题上。



他说，“尤其是在英国公投脱欧后，东欧成员国越来越谈及要让欧盟权力机构放权。但我认为东西欧之间的分歧并不是唯一的问题。实际上问题出在欧盟内部——欧盟权力机构眼中欧盟应该是什么样，与所有欧盟成员国愈发希望有政府间交流的愿望之间的冲突”。



英国脱欧的话题依然是欧盟会议的主导，只是换了一种形式，即如何共同凝聚支离破碎的欧盟。对此，英国提出谋求更强大的军事合作。



欧盟主席表示，“我们必须建设一个欧盟总部。我们必须建设共同的军事力量，与北大西洋公约组之（NATO）互补。欧盟要加强防卫工作，但同时也不能减少跨大西洋的稳固合作”。



此前，英国一直反对共同建设欧盟军事力量，但脱欧后，英国便不再有话语权。周五的欧盟会议上，英国也有出席。



1



词汇解析：



1. hardline 强硬的，不妥协的



In some placesit is sure to go wrong; in others it may yield to hardline Islam.



在一些地方还会走向错误的方向，在另一些地方会屈服于强硬的伊斯兰。



2. compulsory 强制的，义务的



He believes thatthe study of history should be compulsory in school.



他认为在学校里学习历史应该是强制性的。



3. overshadow 使……失色，给……蒙上阴影



Fears for thepresident's safety could overshadow his peace-making mission.



对总统安全的担心会给他的和平促进任务蒙上阴影。



4. divergence 分歧



Now we come to apoint of divergence.



现在，我们遇到了一个有分歧的话题。