Hosting a dinner in Brussels with the prime ministers of the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia), EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini called for these countries to speed up their reforms.
“With a renewed dynamic in the EU’s enlargement policy and a chance to make important progress throughout the region, the High Representative underlined the need for all Western Balkans partners to accelerate essential reforms to deliver on their citizens’ expectations and take concrete steps towards EU integration”, the European External Action Service (EEAS) stated in a press release.
According to the EEAS, 2018 “will provide a unique opportunity for the region to make irreversible steps forward in its EU integration, provided that the utmost priority is given to the necessary reforms, in particular on rule of law, justice and fundamental rights”.
The prime ministers of the six countries, the EEAS said, “reiterated their full commitment to continuing to work for the European Union integration process” and “underlined their deep determination and interest in strengthening cooperation and good neighbourly relations and in promoting regional understanding”.
In this context, the “importance of the ongoing discussions” between Presidents Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo and Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia to advance in the dialogue for normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo was highlighted, the EEAS stated.
The European Commission is expected, in February 2018, to present a new strategy for the Western Balkans then, in April, it will publish its progress reports on the enlargement countries. An EU-Balkans summit is also scheduled to take place in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 17 May. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)