The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, underlined, on Tuesday 21 September, the need for strong commitment from both the Western Balkans partners and the European Union and its Member States to overcome current dynamics and move the EU accession process forward.
The High Representative made the statement at an informal dinner he had hosted with Western Balkan leaders on Tuesday, in New York, on the margins of the UN General Assembly. At the meeting, the High Representative and the leaders discussed the situation in the region and EU-Western Balkans relations in light of the upcoming EU-Western Balkans Summit on 6 October (see EUROPE 12786/1).
Earlier in the day, at the end of the General Affairs Council of the EU in Brussels, the Slovenian State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Gašper Dovžan, stated, on behalf of the EU Council Presidency, that it was “clear” that the summit on 6 October would not be an enlargement summit. “But of course we all hope that the dialogue between Sofia and Skopje will guide us towards a solution that will allow the EU to move forward and adopt a negotiating framework for North Macedonia, which is not yet the case”, he added.
The EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, was in Bulgaria. “The Western Balkans is an important priority for the Commission and a common strategy is needed to take it forward, especially in times of great challenges”, he stressed on Twitter. Mr Várhelyi said he had discussed at length EU enlargement with the Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Svetlan Stoev, and how to advance it “in the interests of the EU and the Western Balkans”.
Bulgaria has been blocking the adoption of the negotiating framework with North Macedonia for more than a year due to bilateral issues (see EUROPE 12746/4). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)