Merkel: Kosovo, Serbia must have political courage to settle differences

Many German citizens have personal relations with Western Balkan people, many people from the Western Balkans live in Germany and represent a bridge between those countries. The citizens of this region are our neighbours, and their prospect is to become part of the EU, if they meet all conditions”, Merkel said.

She says that although the military conflicts of the 1990s have been overcome, there are still open disagreements to be resolved in those countries. In a video posted on the occasion of the upcoming Western Balkans Summit, which, as part of the Berlin process, will be held Friday in the Polish town of Poznan, Merkel explained the goal is to open talks between countries through which they will achieve better co-operation.

“Today the situation in the Western Balkans is calm, but there are challenges that need to be resolved and it is necessary to meet the conditions for preparing countries for EU accession. The road is still irregular”, Merkel said.

But she stressed that there are positive examples of dialogue in the region, especially stressing the resolution of the dispute between Skopje and Athens about the name.

“With political courage, prime ministers of northern Macedonia Zoran Zaev and Greece's Aleksis Tsipras have proved that conflicts can be resolved, and in this case they have opened up to northern Macedonia the prospect of starting EU accession negotiations and the country's entry into NATO”.

“Such a positive example should be encouragement to solve problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, such as between Serbia and Kosovo”, Chancellor Merkel has stressed.

As for the upcoming meeting, Merkel said a major problem, such as infrastructure construction, is discussed each year, and noted that to that end the EU helps with financing.

“We must build highways, railways, roads.. because we know that, when people are connected to infrastructure, then they're going to visit, see and meet each other further”.

In Poznan on July 5th, a conference on the Western Balkans will be held, attended by Merkel, with the initiative at which the Berlin process began in 2014, as a process which would help speed up dialogue and the possibilities of co-operation in the region.