Lajcak: EU membership stronger incentive for resolving open issues such as Kosovo with Serbia

EU mediator for dialogue Miroslav Lajcak has said today that the clear prospect for membership in the European Union is the strongest incentive for resolving open issues such as relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

“We must overcome the fear of enlargement. We have introduced rules into the EU and are making it difficult to start the process. But we must find a balance between the geopolitical need and well-deserved progress. The process should be reliable and transparent, which was not the case before”, Lajcak said.

He gave these comments from Slovenia, as participants of the” Western Balkans conference in the EU”.

Lajcak stressed that everyone is in a difficult era in which global rules are lacking and global architecture after World War II no longer works.

As he said, the lack of global authority, which can prevent the negative processes, encourages “some players” to resolve things unilaterally, not respecting the rules.

This is a new situation for all of us. The Russian aggression against Ukraine is the most visible and tragic situation”, Lajcak said.

He noted that there is no attempt to establish new rules that would be in line with the 21st century.

Everyone complains, but there is no real initiative for this”, Lajcak added.

According to Lajcak, enlargement is now seen as a geopolitical need for the EU to be stronger and more flexible.

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