European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who is at the end of his Western Balkans tour, said today in Sofia that region’s accession to the EU “is not a dream, but reality,” adding that reform progress comes before deadlines.
“I would like to repeat once again what I told my friends during the visit: the EU remains committed to the European perspective of the Western Balkan countries,” said Juncker following his meeting with the WB6 heads of state or government.”
Addressing the media in a joint press conference Juncker said that, as he was leaving the Western Balkans, he was certain that “the region belongs in the EU” and that EU accession “is not a dream, but reality that will actualize,” adding that “reform progress comes before deadlines.”
“EU-aspiring countries must meet all EU-related criteria and conditions. Saying that none of those countries has met all conditions should not be taken as offence, as all of them have indeed made huge progress. I am particularly impressed by that progress, but at the same time cannot help but note that we have to see a more credible fight against organized crime and against corruption that eats societies away,” he added.
Speaking about challenges, Juncker reiterated that all EU-aspiring countries have to resolve their bilateral territorial disputes.
He said that the EU cannot make exceptions when it comes to accession, adding that deviating from the rule is in the interest of neither side.
Juncker said that during his visit to the region he remained convinced that “all Western Balkans partners share the same values” and that everywhere he went he saw “the same vigour, the same desire to implement necessary reforms in order to join the EU,” saying, however, that “each country advances in its own way.”
Juncker said that the meeting discussed, but was not limited to, EU enlargement.
“We talked about the migration issue that affects us all, about the economic integration and poor connectivity of the region, about principles of regional economic integration that we had previously discussed in Trieste,” he said.
The meeting in Sofia confirmed that we share the priority of boosting the European prospect of the region on the basis of reforms, values and economic cooperation, Juncker said.
The meeting was participated in by the Presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, Aleksandar Vucic and Hashim Thaci; Prime Ministers of Albania Edi Rama, Montenegro Dusko Markovic and FYROM Zoran Zaev, and the Chairman of the Presidency of BiH Dragan Covic.
The last meeting of the visit Juncker undertook to explain the Strategy in detail was also attended by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn and chaired by Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the country currently holding the EU Presidency, Bojko Borisov.
