prijava
THESSALONIKI, February 26 (FENA) - After nearly two decades since the historic Thessaloniki summit in 2003, the foreign ministries of the Hellenic Republic, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and partners from the Western Balkans, Albania, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo, and Croatia, which currently holds the presidency over the European Union, the European Commission and the European External Action met on Monday 24 February in Thessaloniki to once again declare their common goal of a peaceful, strong, stable and united Europe through the full integration of the Western Balkans into the European Union, it was said in a joint statement ahead of the conference "From Thessaloniki 2003 to Zagreb 2020".
"We are deeply convinced that the full integration of the whole region into the European Union is in the best interest of Europe," the statement said.
The Enlargement Policy has been one of the most successful EU policies; it has contributed significantly to the Union’s role as a regional and global power. Keeping enlargement at the top of the EU agenda is of paramount importance.
Recalling the Final Declaration of the Zagreb Summit of 2000, the Thessaloniki Summit Agenda of 2003 and the Sofia EU-Western Balkans Summit Declaration and Sofia Priority Agenda of 2018, and building on the efforts of previous EU Council Presidencies, they reiterated their firm belief that the unification of Europe cannot be completed without the Western Balkans.
"We recognize that the EU Membership perspective has proved to be the most powerful incentive for the necessary internal reforms as well as the best means to guarantee peace, stability, security and prosperity in the long term for the whole Western Balkans region. It also provides strong impetus for the full transformation of the region and the consolidation of democracy through advancing the necessary reforms especially in the areas of the Rule of Law, the fight against corruption and organized crime, good governance, as well as the protection of human rights, including rights of persons belonging to minorities and property rights," said the statement.
"We reiterate our full support to the efforts aiming at strengthening good-neighborly relations, in accordance with international law and EU requirements including those falling under the Stabilization and Association Process, as well as promoting reconciliation, regional stability, and inclusive regional cooperation in the Western Balkan region," it was said in the statement.
It is essential for the EU to offer a credible enlargement perspective and for the Western Balkans to speed up all the necessary reforms in their EU- agendas, based on strict and fair conditionality and the principle of own merits.
They expressed the expectation that in line with the European Commission recommendations, the EU will decide to open accession negotiations with the Republic of Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia before the Zagreb Summit of May 2020, preferably in March.
In the run-up to the Zagreb EU-Western Balkans Summit in May 2020, the neighboring EU Member-States, together with their Western Balkans partners, recognize the importance of actively promoting a market and investment-friendly economy in the Western Balkans in order to move faster towards a digital economy and to sustainable and climate-friendly societies in line with the Paris Agreement and developing modern networks and infrastructures, in order to obtain transport, energy and digital connectivity within the region and beyond.
(FENA) L. N.
