New European Commission will dedicate itself to enlargement process and new Commissioner Hahn, if approved by the European Parliament, will place this issue at the very heart of his portfolio, said Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Michael Davenport participating on the second day of Belgrade Security Forum.
There is a lot of discussion about enlargement fatigue, both among Member States and the EU, but once the Annual Progress Report is published on 8 October, it will show a renewed and strengthened commitment of future EU Members, Davenport said.
Speaking about EU’s neighbourhood policy, Davenport stressed that there was a rule where each country might choose its own partners, its own path as well as those with whom it would sign agreements, as is the case with Ukraine and Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
One must not loose sight of the fact that, in future, Russia will act as a major partner of the EU, so we have to ensure a realistic approach on this matter, taking global challenges into account, Davenport said. We have to find a common ground and do whatever it takes to make sure Russia does not feel threatened by the enlargement process and EU’s neighbourhood policy, Davenport underlined.
