Borel: I can't say anything about the prospects for Montenegro and Serbia to open new chapters in June

The Western Balkans is a geopolitical problem that has a key geopolitical role for the European Union (EU) and the heads of EU diplomacy have agreed that the Union will provide political engagement with the region in addition to a clear commitment to its European perspective.

This was stated today in Brussels, after the Union's ministerial session, by EU High Representative Josep Borrell, who added that there is nothing new about the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue since he recently spoke with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, stressing that the new round will take place in June.

Borel stated that at the moment he cannot say anything about the prospects for Serbia and Montenegro to open new chapters in the negotiations on membership with the EU in June, but he said that the Union ministers emphasized the need for partners in the Western Balkans to speed up and speed up European reforms.

The EU High Representative explained that Kosovo's Prime Minister Kurti told him that he was not yet ready for dialogue, that he had just taken office, that he should study the entire negotiation file.

"And we agreed that a new round of dialogue should be held before the meeting of EU foreign ministers at the end of June, and I hope that by then they will have all the necessary information and come to Brussels well prepared before the end of June," Borel informed.

"I invited the leaders from the Western Balkans to come to Brussels and hold a meeting, dinner and consider the entire situation in the Western Balkans, as we did today (at the EU ministerial meeting)," said the senior EU official in charge of international affairs. and security.

"And this is the first time in the last two years," he noted, "that the Council of Ministers of the EU has discussed the Western Balkans. It is the first time that the Western Balkans is on the agenda of the meeting of the Union's foreign affairs ministers, which is quite unusual."

"And some ministers did not complain, but", in his words, "expressed regret that this is the case and they are right, because the Western Balkans is a big geopolitical problem, the region is part of the situation, part of the problem and the solution".

"And there are many other problems related to the Western Balkans that are not related to enlargement, but we have to deal with that area in a geopolitical perspective," Borel said.

And, as he pointed out, "we did that today (at the meeting of EU ministers) and we will do it next Sunday with the leaders from the Western Balkans, and I hope they will come, and I told the EU ministers: Look, today we agreed on the principles, fundamentals, and now I expect you to make concrete proposals so that we continue to move forward, and we will not wait two years again without putting the issue of the Western Balkans on the agenda".

"We won't wait even two months for that, and before the summer the Western Balkans will be on our agenda again and we will arrange proposals that the EU members will be able to implement, if there are any, if not everything is postponed until the fall," he made it known. Borel.

"But we must make further efforts to start the momentum, because all the EU ministers agree that we must be more involved in the Western Balkans".

Borel conveyed the position of the EU ministers that "the Western Balkans region has a special role in Europe and for Europe, and we agreed that the Western Balkans has a key geopolitical role for the European Union, commitment to the Western Balkans must be very visible and we must not give up on that".

"The message of the EU ministers today was very clear, they confirmed the European perspective of the entire Western Balkans, but this is not only about the process leading to membership, but we want to ensure political engagement with our partners in the region," added the high representative of the EU.

"And that starts", as he said, "with the coronavirus pandemic, vaccines, economic cooperation, connectivity, how to deal with external influences, disinformation".

"At the ministerial session, a visible agreement was expressed that the Western Balkans region must speed up European reforms and that stronger, favorable and accommodating messages must be given," Borel concluded, noting that the position of the ministers was that Bulgaria and North Macedonia must resolve bilateral issues on their own. disputes.