Foreign Minister attends a conference on the Western Balkans EU perspective

The European perspective of the Western Balkans is discussed on February 24 in Thessaloniki at a high-level conference of the European Commission, the foreign ministers of the Member States and the six countries of the Western Balkans. Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva also takes part in it. A key topic is the challenge to European integration of the Western Balkan countries just months after France blocked the start of membership talks with North Macedonia and Albania.

17 years after the then President of the European Commission Romano Prodi stated in Thessaloniki that "the place of the Balkans is in the EU", today, candidate countries and Member States are coming together to discuss the Western Balkans' path to the EU.

European integration of the Western Balkans was a major focus of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU and an important priority of the Bulgarian foreign policy.

The hopes of North Macedonia and Albania, which expected to receive an invitation to open negotiations with the EU, stalled last October after France and several other member states refused to give the green light. But there are new hopes after the EC has introduced a more rigorous negotiation methodology.

What is expected from the forum today?

Gordon Radman, Croatian Foreign Minister: We also expect support for these countries, North Macedonia and Albania, here. This Thessaloniki conference will simply be the way to the Zagreb Summit, which will be held this May. We just expect success. And we also have support from you, from Bulgaria, and I think we should all support these countries.

Miro Cerar, Slovenian Foreign Minister: North Macedonia and Albania deserve to start talks with the EU. The EU, on the other hand, should keep its promise. We are all here friends of the enlargement process. The peoples of North Macedonia and Albania should eventually see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Nikos Dendias, Greek Foreign Minister: It is more important than ever for the EU to maintain the momentum of enlargement policy, while at the same time the Western Balkans must accelerate reforms. At this critical crossroads of the EU, we must keep the European idea.

Conference participants are expected to come up with a joint statement in support of the European integration of the Western Balkan countries in the context of the May 2020 EU Summit in Zagreb during the Croatian Presidency.