Brussels, 26/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - Jonas Jonsson, who heads the Western Balkans division at the European External Action Service (EEAS), said on Tuesday 24 April during a conference on “Eugoslavia”, that it was not so much a question of whether the Balkans region will or not enter the European Union - as the region must and will be in the EU, there being no doubt about this - but rather when and how it will do so. He explained that there was strong Union commitment in the region and that the EU's “credibility” depends on stabilisation and integration of the region. The EU, he added, cannot resolve all problems but that is the best way to go.
It is nonetheless out of the question to choose to overlook the accession criteria. “The accession process is based on criteria and not on a question of time”, Jonsson pointed out, underlining that, “in order to be sure that enlargement continues to be a success for both sides, one must remain strict”.
“It is better to be in the EU than outside it”, said Ksenija Milenkovic, the deputy head of the Serbia mission to the EU, who stressed that the Serbs have placed much hope and have great expectations in the EU accession process. She also said that that EU has facilitated discussion between her country and Kosovo while highlighting the fact that “Serbia does not and will not recognise Kosovo”. (CG/transl.jl)