Von der Leenen: The road to the EU for Western Balkans is of great strategic importance

European Commission incoming President Ursula von der Leyen said Albania and Northern Macedonia had made extraordinary “efforts”.

The opening of Albania and North Macedonia's road to EU entry is “, with great strategic importance of” for the bloc, she said on Friday, Klan Kosova reports.

The European Commission's elected president's comments to reporters in Berlin after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel were a clear warning to French President Emmanuel Macron, who last month was at the helm of opposition to the decision to start enlargement negotiations, writes Politico.

“I firmly believe that it is of great strategic importance for us to connect the Western Balkans as much as possible with the European Union”, von der Leenen said.

“Albania and Northern Macedonia have made extraordinary efforts to reach the point that we have asked them to reach,” went on, stressing that it will seek alternative means to strengthen ties with these countries.

“as long as it is not possible to open accession talks ... I will put all my energy into developing joint projects that will increasingly connect these countries to us through close co-operation”.

If we don't do this, others will fall into a vacuum and we don't want this to happen”.

Speaking close to von der Leyen, Merkel said she considers the “extremely important, for European strategic interests, that these countries do not lose hope in the prospect of accession. It was also “closely linked to the migration issue”, the Chancellor added, alluding to the fact that many refugees have entered the EU in the past years via the Western Balkans.

Addressing the topic of migration, von der Leyen said it aims to present in the second quarter of next year the new Migration Pact for Asylum, which she had announced in her first address to the European Parliament in July.

Our goal must be... to be a model role in the world for the way migration can be managed steadily, with a human approach, but also effectively. And I am fully convinced that the European Union can do this”.

Merkel said Germany was in favour of late migration plans der Leenen, which are not yet specified: “Of course, we will give our positive support to the new proposals”.