No country in the Balkans should be left out of EU integration
20 April 2012 News
“Kosovo is the key to security and prosperity in the Balkans and all of the neighbouring countries in the region are important for the prosperity and security of Kosovo's citizens,” Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov said after meeting Bujar Bukoshi, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo.
Minister Mladenov emphasised that Bulgaria would continue to support the process of building a democratic, stable and multi-ethnic Kosovo and to promote the Euro-Atlantic integration of all the countries of the Western Balkans.
“No country in the Balkans should be left unintegrated into the European family, because all of them can achieve their prospects in the EU,” Minister Mladenov said.
He emphasised Bulgaria’s satisfaction with the EU’s commitments to the Western Balkans and in particular Kosovo’s progress in the dialogue on visa policy and the feasibility study on the EU beginning negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the bloc.
Bulgaria gives the Kosovo government high marks on its readiness to look at the possibility of allowing people with dual citizenship to vote in the upcoming elections in Serbia in May, Minister Mladenov said, adding that this position was an expression of European thinking and respect for European values.
Deputy Prime Minister Bukoshi thanked Bulgaria for its support in strengthening the youngest country in the region. He expressed confidence that with the help of Bulgaria and its experience as a member of NATO and the EU, Kosovo would cope successfully with the challenges ahead of it. He said that it was important that Kosovo should not remain the only country in the region not on the path of integration.
Also discussed in the talks between Minister Mladenov and Deputy Prime Minister Bukoshi was the forthcoming visit to Bulgaria by Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, as well as the implementation of specific projects.