Brussels, 16/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 15 July, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel announced her country's support for the integration of the Balkan countries into the European Union. “We clearly support the European outlook of all the countries in the region. We are not going to abandon the process of enlargement to the Balkans”, she told press during a summit in Croatia. “There is still much work ahead of us”, she added.
During his campaign, the newly elected president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, announced a “pause” in enlargement. While, under his presidency, “the ongoing negotiations will continue” - especially with the countries of the Western Balkans - there will be “no new enlargement over the next five years” (see EUROPE 11086). Serbia and Montenegro have opened accession negotiations with the EU, while Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) are officially candidates, and Kosovo and Bosnia are not yet officially candidates.
Merkel promised Germany's aid for finding a compromise solution to the dispute between FYROM and Greece - which is blocking the opening of Skopje's negotiations with the EU. She hailed the agreement between Serbia and Kosovo, underling the “great progress made on the normalisation of relations”. Merkel also wanted the leaders of Bosnia and Herzegovina to set up a new “dynamic” so that their country might move closer to the EU. (CG)