TIRANA (Albania), September 13 (SeeNews) – The prime ministers of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary said the EU needs to open accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia in order to maintain and consolidate the progress achieved so far.
“Starting the negotiations in October 2019 will not only enable these two countries to focus even more on necessary reforms and serve as an important incentive for the whole region but it will also guarantee that the EU will continue to be the leading player in promoting a positive regional transformation,” the prime ministers of the Visegrad Group of countries said in a joint statement, after meeting Western Balkans leaders in Prague on Thursday.
The leaders of Visegrad Four reiterated their “unequivocal support for the EU accession of the Western Balkans and their firm belief that reunification of Europe cannot be complete without them joining the European Union.”
EU accession is and will remain a merit-based process fully dependent on the objective progress achieved, Visegrad Four leaders noted, adding that they expect that ongoing accession negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro will be accelerated during the next Commission’s mandate accordingly to both states’ progress and that the EU will be ready to welcome the first countries meeting for conditions of accession during the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.
They also expressed the hope that the reform processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo in the coming period will strengthen the prospect of EU membership in the region.
The prime ministers of the four countries also took note of the strategic role of the Western Balkan region in enhancing the EU’s diversification of energy supply through the Southern Gas Corridor and expressed their determination to enhance the cooperation among the Visegrad Four and the Western Balkans.
In June, the Council of the European Union said it will discuss the issue of opening accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia no later than October in light of the limited time available and the importance of the matter.
North Macedonia is a EU candidate country since 2005 and Albania since 2014.