Enlargement

For our six European countries, March 2024 marks two decades since the historic moment of NATO membership. It is also the 72nd anniversary of Greece's accession to NATO, which has been a central element in shaping Greek foreign and defense policies.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, assessed that the countries of the Western Balkans should "at full speed" take advantage of the opportunity related to EU enlargement.

The agreement, he stressed, is an integral part of the enlargement process

Rebooting the System

The European union flag flies over the apostolic palace during visit of the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis, Vatican City, 22 May 2021. EPA-EFE/FABIO FRUSTACI

It suggests that ideas that were once the exclusive domain of fevered reactionaries are now gaining traction and staying power among a constellation of EU governments, albeit largely illiberal ones.

That, in turn, gets to the heart of the matter: the EU has no coherent agenda for the Western Balkans.

According to him, that statement undermines the objectivity of the European Union's policy in the Western Balkans.
European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivr Vrhelyi, previously welcomed the decision of the Government of Serbia to withdraw the cancellation of hospitality to the Ambassador of Montenegro and called on Montenegro to do the same.

The European Commission will propose changes to the system for letting new countries into the EU to give existing members more say, in a bid to mollify France which has vetoed expansion of the bloc to six countries in the Balkans.

A credible enlargement process of the European Union is a strategic investment and the accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia should be opened "without further delay or preconditions," Foreign Affairs Minister Bogdan Aurescu said on Wednesday, as he participated in an event that marked the taking over by Croatia of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

But in an increasingly fractious Europe, officials from Visegrad Four (V4) states in Central Europe — Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia — say they will champion the cause of EU enlargement within the new Commission.

"We still have unfinished work. Integration of the Western Balkans awaits us. If we look at the last round of enlargement, I would say that the conditions have not changed," said he.