Minister Zaharieva: The Berlin Process Will Make the European Integration of the Western Balkans Faster
09 July 2018 News
‘Certainly, the Berlin Process will make the European integration of the Western Balkans faster. What is more, this initiative complements, and does not replace, the European prospects of these six countries.’ These were the words Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ekaterina Zaharieva used to address her six counterparts from the Western Balkans as well as those from the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Croatia, and Slovenia. They have gathered in London for a conference within the framework of the Fifth Berlin Process Summit, which is to be held tomorrow.
Minister Zaharieva reminded that it was precisely the European prospects that had served as the main incentive behind all the positive developments in the region over the past year. ‘We have achieved so much in this timeframe: the Good-neighbourliness Agreement between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, the Athens–Skopje agreement on the name issue, the connectivity strategy for these six countries, the summit in Sofia, and the agenda for the Western Balkans; these were followed by the decision to launch negotiations with Albania and the Republic of Macedonia, and by a series of innovative decisions in the sphere of regional cooperation within the framework of the SEECP.’ Bulgaria’s highest-ranking diplomat highlighted that the consensus between the 28 member states on the last conclusions of the GAC was a success in itself. ‘I am grateful to my colleagues from the United Kingdom and Germany, and our other friends who helped us convince hesitant member states in the EU that the decision to launch negotiations is to everyone’s benefit,’ Ekaterina Zaharieva said.
She highlighted the key importance of the topics the London summit would focus on: security, migration, the youth, and also bilateral relations and seeking peace.
‘This last topic constitutes an obligatory requirement for countries in the region that have started their European integration. If those bilateral disputes between countries in the region remain open, the enlargement process may not materialise,’ Minister Zaharieva added.
She stated that the Berlin Process and meetings like today’s, attended by representatives of civil society, youth organisations and start-ups, assisted in maintaining the focus on the Western Balkans even after the Bulgarian Presidency had ended, and carried it over into the Austrian and the Romanian Presidencies.
The initiative was launched in 2014 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Every year since then has seen a summit between the participating member states. During the latest meeting, in Trieste, Bulgaria was also included, and investments amounting to over half a billion euro was approved, about EUR 194 mln. of which will come from the EU, and the rest – from loans by the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as from co-funding on the part of the Western Balkans countries. Some of the projects approved in 2017 included the gas interconnector between Serbia and Bulgaria, the railway link between Bulgaria and the Republic of Macedonia, which is part of transport corridor №8, as well as the railway link between Bulgaria and Serbia, which in turn forms part of European corridor No. 10.
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