Kyuchyuk: Western Balkans Remain EU’s Other Priority besides COVID-19

The European Parliament (EP) Standing Rapporteur for Macedonia Ilhan Kyuchyuk said in an interview for MIA that in spite of the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the EU still remains focused on issues related to the Western Balkans. “The Committee on Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (AFET) adopted by a wide majority the European Parliament’s recommendation report on the EU enlargement to the Western Balkans ahead of 2020 Summit, which is likely to be postponed to June and held in the form of a video-conference. The European Parliament is only discussing the coronavirus related issues, so far the only thing outside the coronavirus that we have voted on is the recommendations for the Western Balkans, we have not voted on anything else in the last month. Also, an important signal for the region is its access to the EU Solidarity Fund, a fund that is exclusively available to EU member states,” Kyuchyuk said. According to him, if it had not been about the coronavirus crisis, the first intergovernmental conference between EU and Macedonia would have taken place in June.