Zaharieva in Belgrade: We support the EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans

Bulgaria is one of the strongest supporters of the idea of EU enlargement. There will be a European Commission report on the progress of Serbia and the Western Balkans in April 2018, during Bulgarian’s presidency. We will do all that is necessary so that the report will have a precise plan for the country’s membership in the EU for the sake of the Serbian citizens, said the Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva on July 24^th for the Serbian state television.

“We know that this won’t definitely happen in the next 2 or 3 years. We support the idea that at this point it is good to have clear deadlines for Serbia and for the other countries in the Western Balkans. Bulgaria will work towards Serbia receiving an estimated date. The speed depends on how quickly the reforms will be carried out by your government and the political elite. Citizens of Serbia need to understand that reforms are in their best interest. Reforms in the economy, justice, health, social matters, and the number of other heavy reforms will all take place primarily for the benefit of Serbian citizens,” said Zaharieva.

Ekaterina Zaharieva reminded that when Bulgaria started its EU membership negotiations in 2000 the country’s GDP was BGN 25 billion and since then has grown to BGN 92 billion in the past year. “You can see for yourself the economic growth Bulgaria has made in this short period of time. Not to mention highways - in the past 30 years, we built 300 km and now we have over 700 km. Wastewater treatment plants, the raising of pensions and wages... Young Bulgarians have forgotten what it means to wait in line for a visa, to not travel wherever you want, to not study wherever you want... Not to mention the European solidarity, where we received 7 billion euros in the first ten years of our membership and our contribution was 4.5 billion euros", added Zaharieva.

According to her, the EU always emerges stronger after each crisis. “We face a couple of challenges now, with the migrant crisis, Brexit, the economy, security crisis… I am certain that the EU will emerge stronger, but we mustn’t ignore these issues, especially the global ones” emphasized the Bulgarian Foreign Minister.

The EU is the largest market with the largest economy, but that does not mean we shouldn’t strive for improvement… I personally, as well as the government, support the position that the EU will not be stronger until all our friends are part of it. We must use the current Estonian presidency, then the Bulgarian, followed by Austria, which also supports Serbia, and the Romanian presidency. All these countries support enlargement. Let us use this moment to make significant progress and get a clear date. Maybe in the next 5, 6, 7 years, but there should be a clear date", stressed Zaharieva.

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