The European Council President, António Costa, began a tour of the Western Balkans on Monday 1 June to meet with the leaders of the region’s six partner countries, a few days before the EU-Western Balkans summit to be held on 5 June in Tivat, Montenegro. The summit will focus in particular on the progress made by each of the six partners on their path towards accession to the European Union, as well as on their gradual integration into the EU.
“This tour sends a clear signal. The European Union commitment to the Western Balkans is real. So too is the enlargement perspective”, António Costa said in Sarajevo, while stressing the importance of launching the process of drafting Montenegro’s accession treaty.
Mr Costa also stressed that “the summit will provide a clear demonstration of our determination to deepen our cooperation and to build on the current momentum of European Union enlargement”.
In Sarajevo, the European Council President urged Bosnia and Herzegovina to adopt the pending judicial reforms and appoint a chief negotiator in order to move forward on the path to accession to the European Union. He also insisted on the importance of the new High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose appointment by the Peace Implementation Council is expected this week, “embodying Bosnia and Herzegovina’s choice to pursue its European Union accession process”. (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)