Nine EU member states in a letter dated March 5 called on the EU’s chief diplomat to bring the Western Balkans back on the Union’s agenda in April, after conclusions were blocked in December 2020 due to the dispute between Skopje and Sofia, MIA’s Brussels correspondent reports.

In December, for the first time in history, the EU ended the year without any conclusions on the Western Balkans due to failure to reach compromise with Bulgaria over differences regarding “interpretation of history.”

Since December, the Western Balkans has been completely left out from the discussions in Brussels.

The nine EU member states including Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, in the letter dated March 5 called on the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, to bring the region back on the agenda of discussions when EU foreign ministers meet in April.

MIA received on Monday a response from Borrell’s office to the letter.

According to the response, Borrell shares the opinion expressed in the letter.

“The EU Western Balkans are a priority for the European Union – the EU is the main political, economic and trade partner of the region, whose future clearly lies in the EU. The HRVP shares the opinion expressed in the letter of the Foreign Ministers on this point,” Borrell’s office told MIA.

The EU’s chief diplomat continues his strong engagement with the Western Balkans political leadership, and is ready to have further discussions with EU member states on the Western Balkans, adds the response.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council is scheduled to meet on April 19, which is also after the elections in Bulgaria, opening a possibility to bring the region back in the focus of the EU.