TIRANA, August 22 – The EU should give a clear signal by defining a preliminary timeline for the integration of the Western Balkans that would provide a framework and a clear objective of what and when to achieve it.
The minister made that appeal at the international conference “Quo Vadis Europe?” organized by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy and Security, Josep Borrell.
During her speech in the session “Enlargement and Neighbourhood/Western Balkans on the way to the European Union”, Minister Xhacka said that the crisis caused by the war in Ukraine woke up the European Union and forced it to think strategically regarding the issue of enlargement.
“It took a fight, but today the EU is focused like never before and is showing the will to act strategically towards the Western Balkans. There is a real change in the EU’s approach to the region, which we can hope will last and become concrete in the future,” said Albania’s chief diplomat.
According to her expectation, the EU will work with the WB for economic and social convergence because without helping the region to narrow the development gap that has widened in recent years, it will hardly be achieved further on the road to the EU. “Last but certainly not least, I want to stress the need for messages of support and encouragement from our European partners and a commitment from them that enlargement will be based on merit,” said Xhacka.
