Abazovic: EU revives Enlargement Process for Western Balkan Countries

Montenegro's Prime Minister, Dritan Abazovic, said Wednesday that the European Union should revive the European enlargement process for Western Balkan countries.

Speaking at the Warsaw Security Forum in Poland, Abazovic warned that the EU must keep the door open for new members amid security concerns.

“Today we have a situation when the Russian Federation is aggression against Ukraine. The same can happen tomorrow in the Western Balkans”, Abazovic said, the AP reports, broadcast Clankosova

Six countries -- Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Serbia -- are in different phases of bloc integration.

Abazovic said that if we do not use this moment to build a stronger coalition, within the protection of principled and universal values, “I think we will be in very big problems in the next period”.

“I think the EU should revive the enlargement process. If the EU wants to remain attractive to the new members, if it will remain attractive... I think the EU must make that decision to make the enlargement process alive again”, the Montenegrin prime minister said.

He said the EU should expand into the Western Balkans, but also for all other European countries, including Ukraine, which he said, want to be part of the European Union and in that sense offer more security.

If we don't do this, we'll give you the opportunity to influence Russia, to influence China, perhaps to influence third parties. And at the end of the day it will be the issue not only of the security of countries that at the moment have candidate status and are not in the EU, but will be a big problem for countries that are within the large European family”, Abazovic stressed.

In 2013, Croatia, also a Western Balkan country, became the newest member of the EU. Since then, progress has stalled.

Serbia and Montenegro were the first Western Balkan countries to start membership negotiations, followed by Albania and Macedonia last year. Bosnia and Kosovo have only begun the first step of the integration process.

The war in Ukraine has put the integration of the Western Balkans high on the bloc's agenda as the EU works to revive its enlargement process. Ukraine is also seeking to join the bloc.