Cuz: Kosovo dialogue '% Serbia has become easier after Pristina elections

Austria's Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said today that dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia has not become easier after the elections in Pristina, and that he hopes this year will not be lost on the issue of European integration of the Western Balkans, the newspaper Express broadcast.

Stressing his visit to Belgrade, Kurz said the EU must be a reliable partner for countries in the Western Balkans that want to integrate.

“I hope for a new dynamic of European integration in the Western Balkans. The EU must be a reliable partner for the Western Balkan countries, so that they can rely on”, Cuz told Tanjug.

He noted that neither the EU nor Austria can be aware of how the region is developing.

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The “is particularly important for Austria how the region develops due to its geographic proximity. Any negative development has a direct effect on us. Less crime here means greater security in our country, less conflict in the region means better stability in our country. Better economic development here means benefits for us as well as new jobs in Austria”, Cuz stressed.

The Austrian Chancellor said Austria is closely linked to the Western Balkan countries and voiced hope again that the EU will become a reliable partner for the region.

He added that countries in the region are frustrated by the cramp on their European path. As he warned, this inevitably leads other countries, such as Russia, China and Turkey, to become more influential in this region.

“This is why European integration is not just an EU bureaucratic issue, but above all geopolitical”, the Kurz underlined