A few minutes before the Western Balkans Summit in Berlin officially opened, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of regional stability on Monday 29 April.
“We want to work towards their stability [of the Western Balkans, editor's note] independently of any other agenda, because we are also convinced that this stability requires the regional agenda and greater economic integration between Member States and greater integration and cooperation between them”, the president stressed, recalling that stability in the region was “de facto our stability”.
For her part, the Chancellor warned that "all the countries in the region can only develop together”. “There can be no negotiations, no agreements negotiated at the expense of others”, she added. One of the objectives of the summit, she said, was to look at the different situations in different countries and see what “special momentum” was needed to make progress.
Merkel, like Macron, welcomed the Prespa Agreement between North Macedonia and Greece, which the president said showed that it was “possible to settle disputes that seemed insurmountable”.
An example for Serbia and Kosovo, where France and Germany would like the dialogue to resume. "We do not intend to prescribe a solution, but to look at all possible options, to try to calm the debate and to try to move forward without taboos and without regional tension”, explained Mr. Macron.
And to cut short the debate, the Chancellor, who spoke first, immediately pointed out that although France and Germany are “very committed to the European perspective of the Western Balkans", the subject was not part of this summit. This is enough to please Emmanuel Macron, who is reluctant to open accession negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. “The EU enlargement and the EU enlargement policy are not in the spotlight”, he warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)