8 minutes agoCekia says Kosovo, Serbia must approach European standards, reform themselves
Periskopi(2 years ago)
(2 years ago)The European Union's enlargement to include Western Balkan countries should be a priority for representatives of the bloc, who will come to positions from negotiations after the recent European Parliament elections. The foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and other countries thus agreed during the two-day meeting of member states [...]
That is how the foreign ministers of the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and other countries agreed during the two-day meeting of European Union member states with the “Western Balkan Friends Group” that was held in Vienna.
It is in our interest to expand Europe and also for countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and Albania to approach European standards, share our foreign policy and reform themselves. This is important for us because enlargement itself brings more security and prosperity is one of our most powerful tools we have as Europe”, said Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky.
Support for membership of Balkan states in the EU also gave European diplomacy head Josep Borrell, but representatives of other participating states in the forum.
During Thursday's meeting in Austria's Foreign Ministry, the ministers discussed co-operation in the Danube region, with emphasis on supporting Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. They also supported the efforts of Ukraine, Moldova and the countries of the Western Balkans to join the European Union. The ministers adopted a joint declaration in which they condemned Russia's aggression against Ukraine and Russia's repeated military attacks on the Danube port and storage infrastructure.
On Friday, June 21st, the talks moved to the Gottweig Abbey in Down Austria, where a year ago the Western Balkan Friends Group consisting of the Czech Republic, Croatia, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia and Greece was established. The goal of this group is to consistently support the Western Balkan countries in their EU integration. To that end, members of the group have submitted some concrete proposals within the EU over the past year.
The meetings in Gottweig, attended by the foreign ministers of six Western Balkan countries, focused on deepening co-operation between the EU and the Western Balkans in the area of common foreign and security policy and further development of the concept of so-called gradual integration, which should enable residents of the Western Balkan region to experience some of the benefits of EU membership in practice before their countries are officially joined in Union.
In Gottweig, the ministers also approved a joint call for EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, in which, among other things, they address EU representatives who will emerge from negotiations after the European Parliament elections to include this issue among their priorities. They also express their conviction that EU internal reforms are not a prerequisite for enlargement, but that both processes can proceed in parallel.
