On Monday, at the Brdo-Brijuni Process summit in Durres, Slovenia’s President, Natasa Pirc Musar, who also co-heads the Process, stated that the initiative built room for dialogue. She also called for Western Balkan countries to get closer to EU membership in a swifter and more efficient fashion.
As the Slovenian President noted, there is commitment from her country, together with Germany, to a qualified majority vote to open certain negotiating groups or chapters. In that regard, Pirc Musar stated that her hope was that all 27 EU members would understand the need to accelerate the process.
“It takes two to tango”, she also stressed.
However, her Croatian counterpart, Zoran Milanovic, doesn’t believe that should be the case.
“This initiative of Slovenia and Germany and some other countries for certain decisions not to be adopted unanimously, but rather through a qualified majority vote is supported neither by the Croatian government nor by me”, he stressed.
North Macedonia’s President, Gordana Siljanovska Davkova, who’s participating in the summit, pointed to what she said was the unsustainability of the too-long wait of the Western Balkans outside the EU’s gates. According to her, it’s cynical and hypocritical to ask someone to be resilient to third influences while leaving them outside the gates of membership.
Unlike in 2024, the Declaration has this year been adopted by consensus of Brdo-Brijuni country leaders, Siljanovska Davkova also stressed. She believes cooperation is needed to solve common problems such as mass emigration of youth and the danger of economic stagnation, as well as to overcome security challenges.
“I believe in good faith, I believe in good intentions, I believe in the commitment of Croatia and Slovenia to the process and their special responsibility towards the region and its accelerated step towards the EU”, the President underlined.
in the frames of the summit, Siljanovska Davkova met Albanian counterpart Bajram Begaj, with whom she discussed matters related to the EU path and fostering of the mutual partnership at a multilateral level. Cooperation in all areas should be expanded and deepened, they agreed.