The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, said today in Slovenia that the European Union should be ready to accept new members by 2030.
"If we want to be credible, we have to talk about deadlines. While we are preparing the next EU strategic agenda, we have to set ourselves a clear goal, we have to be ready, on both sides, to expand by 2030," he said today at the opening of the Bled Strategic Forum .
He added that EU leaders will discuss enlargement at the next meetings of the European Council, and that in addition to the states that are already candidates, he expects to discuss Bosnia and Georgia again.
The expansion package of the European Commission, which is expected in October, he added, is a good opportunity to emphasize the concrete details of accelerated integration.
"Enlargement is no longer a dream, it's time to move forward. There is still work to do, it will be difficult, complex, sometimes painful for both the candidates and the EU," Michel added.
DON'T MISS IT
Before the necessary reforms, he stated, the candidate countries must resolve issues from the past so that they would not be "imported into the EU".
"Past conflicts must not be imported into the EU or used as a means to block the accession of neighbors and future member states," emphasized Michel.
Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said at the opening of the meeting that the success is the presence of the leaders of all the countries of the Western Balkans, and that due to the war in Ukraine, "the momentum in the context of EU enlargement is changing".
"Things change quickly, in the next 12 months the enlargement process will gain a new perspective and I invite you all to continue with the reforms, but also to be aware of the transformations in the EU itself. We will have to reform our processes in the Union, and that is why I say that it must be happen in the next 12 months or it won't happen for a long time," he said.
In addition to enlargement, he highlighted peace in Ukraine and climate change as important topics.
In this context, he mentioned the recent floods in Slovenia and thanked everyone for their help and solidarity.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, stated that the two priorities for Slovenia are stopping the war in Ukraine and expanding the EU to the Western Balkans.
She thanked everyone in Slovenia and from abroad who helped the country during the floods.
Immediately after the address, Mišel and Golob will participate in the first panel, together with the prime ministers of the Western Balkan six (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania), Croatia and Bulgaria.
Serbia is represented at the Bled Strategic Forum by Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić.
Bonus video:
