8 hours agoKallas: EU enlargement with Western Balkans priority during this mandate
Periskopi(a year ago)
(a year ago)European Union Foreign Policy chief Kaya Kallas has stressed the importance of the Western Balkans for the EU, declaring the region is an integral part of the European family. In a statement to reporters before the EU-Western Balkans summit, Kallas has highlighted her personal commitment to advancing relations between the EU and the countries of the region. [...]
In a statement to reporters before the EU-Western Balkans summit, Kallas has highlighted her personal commitment to advancing relations between the EU and the countries of the region.
It has also cited the signing of a security and defence agreement with Albania, stressing that there is much room for co-operation between the EU and the countries of the region.
The Western Balkans is a very important region for the European Union, they belong to Europe geographically, so it is very important that we postpone our relationship... Today we will discuss the growth plan, and today we have signed the agreement for security and protection with Albania, so there is a lot of room for co-operation”, Kallas has declared.
As for the European Union's enlargement, Kallas indicated determined that this process will have progress during the current five-year term.
It's clear that together with the Enlargement Commission, and I, we really want to see progress in the enlargement process (EU) during this five-year term we have, so we're willing to work on this, she said, among other things”, she has declared before the media.
By contrast, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has criticised the European Union for being <x0-direct” towards Kosovo in its policies in the Western Balkans, failing to lift punitive measures against it and showing no willingness to consider its application for membership in the bloc.
Speaking after arriving in Brussels on Wednesday for the EU-Western Balkans summit, Osmani said that “appears to be inclined to the EU by some member states that Kosovo consistently be punished”.
She said meetings like this summit are a good opportunity to advance the European perspective of the entire region, but that, according to her, in the EU enlargement process, the EU is making “injustice” Kosovo.
Kosovo has applied for membership in the European Union on December 15th 2022, but its demand has not yet been lifted, and as a result it is the only country in the Balkans that still does not have candidate status.
Leaders of European Union member states meet today in Brussels with their colleagues from the Western Balkans at the joint summit that has already become the regular form of meetings at least once a year.
The goal of the EU-Western Balkans summit, according to bloc officials, is to strengthen the partnership between the European Union and the Western Balkan countries, requiring the gradual integration of these countries into some EU policies even before they one day become member states.
