Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister: Western Balkans Countries are not Europe’s Backyard

The Western Balkans countries are not a backyard of Europe, they are the heart of Europe and part of Europe, and it is neither in their interest nor in the EU member states to have countries that are isolated from the process of European integration, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said at a joint press conference with the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini on 16^th of February.

Zaharieiva pointed out that the informal setting of the Gymnich meeting allows for more honesty and outlining of distant future plans and prospects for EU policies related to foreign policy and security.

Zaharieva specified that, as the strategy for the Western Balkans stresses, maximum cooperation is needed in all spheres with the countries of the Western Balkans, especially in security and defence.

“Security in all dimensions, security related to the fight against terrorism, solving the problems of the migrant crisis, but also related to the energy, social and economic development," Zaharieva said.

"At today's meeting, we had the opportunity to discuss the areas of action with the Western Balkan countries and Turkey and agree that we would like to see stronger engagement and commitement on their behalf to EU missions, but also a stronger engagement and participation on our behlalf in capacity building, in supporting and creating working institutions in support of their economic development ", added our foreign minister.

She also said that on 15^th of February, the foreign ministers had discussed the Western Balkans Enlargement Strategy presented by the EC.

"What is very important in this strategy is that it is very comprehensive, long-term, and at the same time it is a fair strategy because it does not create unrealistic expectations and does not compromise our requirements and criteria. It is very specific, because it draws 6 areas of action with many major initiatives that will bring the countries of the Western Balkans closer to full EU membership, " Zaharieva said.

She said some of the participants felt that setting a specific date was something that could demotivate, while others think the date should be more recent.

What is very important to her and emphasized by all colleagues is that the countries of the Western Balkans are not the backyard of Europe, they are the heart of Europe and part of Europe and it is neither of interest to them nor to the EU member states to have so-called gray or black holes or countries that are isolated from the process of European integration.

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