a minute agoMacro: Western Balkans is important in a security context
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)France's President Emmanuel Macron stated that the European Union must give a clear European perspective to the Western Balkans, though it is not in favour of enlargement without reforming the EU and some Croatian Euro-deputes say the European part is important for Makron for security reasons. “We should no longer distance ourselves from the Balkans [...]
“We should no longer distance ourselves from the Western Balkans. We need to get a clear perspective on EU membership within a reasonable time,” said Macro at the plenary session Wednesday, adding that enlargement is not possible without the European Union reform.
Croatian Eurodeput Tonino Picaula (S&D/SDP) believes Macron is looking for his place in this world's security architecture, particularly Europe.
“Macron is interested in everything that is somewhat suspicious of the security aspect of Europe”, Picula told Croatian news agency Hina.
The president of the EP working group for the Western Balkans added that the French leader was “aware that if Europe doesn't fill a vacuum, someone else would fill”.
While Eurodeput Zhelana Zovko (EPP/HDZ) agrees that the enlargement of the Western Balkans is a security issue.
The “is largely a security challenge if this area is left to third countries seeking their strategic position and interest there and leaving the EU exposed to security concerns”, said Zovko, co-mporter for the South East European Instrument for the Pre-Aderation System ( IPA III), adding that enlargement “would not happen at any price” and without meeting all conditions.
France elects a new president in April, so Zovko argues that his statement should be seen in an electoral context, since most French people do not see the EU's close-to-be enlargement.
The fact is that he stressed that Europe must be reformed to continue enlargement” and that this shows that “this process will not happen so quickly”, Zovko told Hina.
France will have a specific presidency as it coincides with elections, so most events in France will be held in the first three months of the presidency to avoid using them for pre-election purposes. But the Picaula eurodeputti believes today's Macron speech was also pre-election.
“I would say his speech was largely pre-election, because he spoke in Strasbourg, but he was also behind Merkel,” said Picula, explaining that Macro “reiterated his ambition to be a politician who would strongly influence EU profile in the future”.
