July 20 (SeeNews) - The European Commission plans to increase its financing to the Western Balkans by 25% to 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) annually as of 2021, budget commissioner Guenther Oettinger said.
The Commission aims to support reforms in the Western Balkans and finance projects that will contribute to the economic growth of the region, Oettinger said in a video file posted on the YouTube channel of Serbian public broadcaster RTS on Thursday.
"The European Commission presented the budget for the period from 2021 to 2027 and I informed Serbian officials about it in order to make a plan for financial assistance and money from pre-accession funds for Serbia to implement reforms and become a full member of the EU," Oettinger said.
The main challenge before Serbia is achieving the European standards for the single market, import-export and competitiveness, but the country is fulfilling its commitments, Oettinger said.
The president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said in May he planned to propose the delivery of a financial package of 10 billion euro to improve the transport and digital infrastructure in the Western Balkans.
In February, the Commission adopted a strategy for supporting the EU integration of the countries of the Western Balkans, focusing on the need for fundamental reforms and good neighbourly relations.
The strategy, named "A credible enlargement perspective for an enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans", includes six flagship initiatives which the EU will launch over the next years to support the transformation efforts of the Western Balkans in areas of mutual interest.
($ = 0.857861 euro)