Italy: EU enlargement-strategic priority

BRUSSELS - EU enlargement to the Western Balkan countries and Turkey is among Italy's strategic priorities during its EU Presidency, reads the document presenting the country's program that was published in Brussels on Thursday.

Candidates and potential candidates should be encouraged to continue pushing through internal reforms in line with EU standards, and in return the EU should clearly demonstrate its commitment to EU enlargement, the document notes.

Italy assumed the EU Presidency on July 1, and with its program it tasked itself with stepping up the negotiation process with Montenegro and Serbia, with expectations that Serbia will open the first, and Montenegro new chapters in the process.

Albania, which earned the candidate status last month, is also expected to advance, along with Macedonia, whose status has been blocked by Greece for years over the name dispute, while Bosnia-Herzegovina has yet to meet the requirements for becoming a candidate country.

When it comes to Kosovo, Italy, as the holder of the presidency, intends to encourage the completion and signing of a stabilization and association agreement (SAA), the strategy reads.

In the next six months, Italy will also try to revive the negotiations with Turkey, which have lost momentum in the meantime, the document adds.

Photo Tanjug, Boki