The need for North Macedonia and Albania to immediately start accession negotiations with the European Union was stressed by EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, during his participation in the sixth “Thessaloniki Summit” in Thessaloniki.
-For me, the question is not whether, but when, and as a first step, I would recommend to start, without delay, the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia and to deliver a visa-free regime for the citizens of Kosovo, said Lajcak and added that this is important for the region to see the EU as a “serious, credible and trustworthy partner”.
Speaking about the latest developments in North Macedonia, Lajcak explained that the resignation of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev is because the European Union failed to fulfil its part of the promise, and the EU, according to him, “lost one of the best partners in the region”, which is a sign that the Union should act.
-Prime Minister Zoran Zaev lost the elections, because he could not fulfil his promise to the citizens for the start of the accession negotiations with the European Union, and he did not fulfil his promise, not because he did not finish his part, but because we, the European Union, unfortunately, could not fulfil our part. And as a result of that, we lost a partner who was very loyal to the European idea and very constructive and committed, one of the best partners in the region. For me, it a clear signal that the region cannot wait on us and it is time for us, the European Union, to act, because otherwise we will be losing even more pro-European partners, said Lajcak.
He returned to the Thessaloniki agenda of 2003 saying that now, 18 years later, only Croatia has become a full member of the EU, and of the remaining six, only two are negotiating, while the other four are still waiting to start.
-I think that this is not the reality our predecessors anticipated in 2003, said Lajcak.
According to him, the full integration of the Western Balkans, “which means full membership of the Western Balkans is the only logical path forward”, means that the interest of the EU is for the region to share European values.
-It is better to export our values then to import instability from the region, said the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, and he supported the stance that the place of the Western Balkans is in the Union also with the fact that there are challenges that know no boundaries, such ae climate change, the energy crisis, migration, COVID-19. / MIA
Translation: N. Cvetkovska
