The Foreign Ministers of the six Western Balkan countries (WB6: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) on Tuesday 10 March reaffirmed their countries’ desire to become full members of the EU.
“We reaffirm our strategic interest in becoming EU Member States while building a peaceful, stable, and economically prosperous region within a strong and united Europe”, they stressed in a joint statement issued in English on 11 March, the day after a meeting in Skopje with ministers from the other Berlin Process countries.
And in order to move forward on their European path, the ministers believe that regional cooperation must be strengthened over and above the necessary reforms.
“It is time to deepen the scope of WB6 cooperation and make it much more results-oriented”, they acknowledge. The representatives of the six countries therefore committed themselves to making greater use of the Regional Economic Area. “If the region doesn't work together, the accession to the EU won’t work either. Regional cooperation is sine qua non if we want to speed up our own EU accession processes”, they say.
According to the ministers, efforts towards enhanced regional cooperation are contingent on the common impetus of an intensified EU accession process. “It is incumbent upon us to make a breakthrough on this path as soon as possible”, the ministers added.
Showing solidarity with each other, they looked forward to “a positive decision on the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia at the March European Council” and stressed “the importance of completing visa liberalisation for all countries as soon as possible”.
Finally, in their view, “in the interests of synergy and complementarity”, close cooperation with the current and incoming EU Council Presidencies of Croatia and Germany “will be crucial in order to keep the European perspective of the Western Balkans high on the EU’s agenda and to ensure tangible results in terms of lasting stability, peace and prosperity in the region”.
See the statement: http://bit.ly/2TJSNqW (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)