SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
On Thursday, in her address to the Friends of Europe’s event headlined “EU-Western Balkans Summit: a renewed approach to the region”, held in Brussels, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said she was committed to bilateral disputes related to the past not obstructing enlargement with the Western Balkans in the future.
As she stressed, the process will remain merit-based especially with regards to the rule of law. Her dream, the Commissioner added, is for all Western Balkan countries to be part of the EU and for there to be no borders and bilateral tensions, as in the case with many parts of the continent.
DG NEAR Director Gert Jan Koopman said that regarding enlargement “the spirit of 2004” was returning to the EU, a reference to the so-called Big Bang enlargement 20 years ago.
Serbian Parliament Speaker Ana Brnabic believes there should be integration of the Western Balkans as a whole. She said that would solve bilateral issues between countries in the region. Former EUSR to North Macedonia Erwan Fouere stated that bilateral issues such as the Skopje-Sofia one had undermined the EU’s credibility.
