Ekaterina Zaharieva: The EU must not lose its focus on the Western Balkans after the success of the Bulgarian Presidency
28 June 2018 News
‘I am happy to be able to talk about the Western Balkans and the role of Bulgaria in the process of accession, a day and a half after I chaired the General Affairs Council that, for the first time since 2015, managed to achieve consensus on the subject of the enlargement. This is a sensitive matter in many EU Member States, but common sense has prevailed and we managed to give a clear perspective and clear time limits to two countries: the Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Albania. This is a success for the entire European Union, not only for the Bulgarian Presidency, but that was our most ambitious goal and I am happy that we managed to attain it.’ Those were the words of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva at the external meeting of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group that took place today at the Balkan Hotel in Sofia.
Minister Zaharieva made a brief analysis of the situation in the region and what Bulgaria managed to accomplish during its Presidency of the Council of the EU. ‘I think the most important thing we did was that we managed to unblock this once blocked subject: the European perspective of the countries in the Western Balkans,’ she said. ‘At first it wasn’t easy to convince all 28 that this was an important issue for all of Europe. But I believe that now the leaders are of the opinion that the security boundaries of Europe do not end at the borders of its Member States. I shall add here the matters of digitization, of young people, of the future and of faith in the European Union. These are the countries with the most pro-European populations in Europe, with over 75% being in favour [of the EU].’
According to Minister Zaharieva, the focus on the Western Balkans in the past six months had stimulated the leaders of those countries to start tackling problems that had been left open for decades, and to step up their reforms in order to meet the pre-conditions for the start of negotiations or for the opening of individual chapters. She pointed out that for the first time in 15 years there has been a summit in Sofia with the participation of the leaders of the EU and those of the Western Balkans, and that the Bulgarian Presidency featured a total of 60 meetings and councils with the countries of the Western Balkans and the European partners. At the end of the 6-month period we had, for the first time, a clear-cut plan and a strategy for connectivity and the sources of funding of the Western Balkans countries, said our top diplomat.
‘The thing now is, we should not lose focus on the Western Balkans and, despite the many successes achieved in those months, such as the Treaty on Friendship, Good Neighbourliness and Cooperation with the Republic of Macedonia, and the agreement between Skopje and Athens on the name, the resolution of the border dispute between Montenegro and Kosovo, as well as the ongoing dialog between Belgrade and Pristina, many issues remain open and require a lot of work,’ said Zaharieva, clarifying that several future presidencies have committed themselves to continue pursuing that priority of the Bulgarian Presidency.
More photos
