Selakovic: Strong support of the V4 to the European perspective of the Western Balkans

Selakovic stated that today's meeting was an opportunity to reaffirm the V4's strong support to the European perspective of the Western Balkans, point out the need to continue reforms of our societies with full understanding of the obstacles that are ahead of us, but were not faced by the V4 member states when they were joining the EU.

The Head of Serbian diplomacy pointed out that Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, when they negotiated on EU membership, knew for certain that they would be given an EU accession date once reforms were implemented and obligations met, and that this was something that the Western Balkans did not have today.

"This was another opportunity to appeal to colleagues to make their support for us even stronger, in order to avoid what seemed to us to be the case in the Western Balkans, and that is that bilateral issues are being raised and used as a kind of obstacle to the continuation along the European path, as well as to show unity in some things", the Minister explained.

The Minister emphasized that the importance of regional connectivity, primarily in the economy, was discussed at today's meeting, and underlined in particular that Serbia, through the policy pursued by President Vucic and the "mini-Schengen" initiative, showed at every step that the fate of the entire region was as important as the fate of Serbia itself.

“It is important for us that European integration provides the preservation of peace and stability in the region. Peace and stability in the Western Balkan region are essential to us. Serbia has contributed to the preservation of peace and stability at every step and will continue to do so in the future", Selakovic said, expressing confidence that Brussels would appropriately evaluate everything we did on the European path.

European integration in the Western Balkans has taken too long

The Visegrad Group shares the frustrations of the Western Balkan countries over European integration, which has lasted too long, said today the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue and other open issues in the Balkans, Miroslav Lajcak, adding that the EU saw a common future for the region in the Union.

"We are not yet where we would like to be when it comes to the progress of the region on the EU path, but it is important to continue talks and keep that issue high on the European agenda", Lajcak said during a break at the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Visegrad Group and the Western Balkans, held in Poznan.

We see a common future for the entire region in the EU, and that is why it is important for the region to be included in our discussion on deciding on the future of Europe, Lajcak said, adding that he was not talking about the region only in terms of the future because the EU was a very active partner and the largest investor.

The Visegrad Group is a consistent and vocal advocate for the policy of enlargement and European integration of the Western Balkans, Lajcak emphasized, adding that the four, which comprised Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic, also provided support to the Western Balkan countries drawing on its own experience.

Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau stated that the meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the Visegrad Group and the countries of the Western Balkans was another demonstration of the commitment to the enlargement of the European Union and that he shared that determination with other members of the Visegrad Four.

"Our meeting, which focused on the European perspective of the Western Balkans, was also full of frustrations expressed by the delegations of the Balkan countries, which we also share, because the accession process has taken too long", Rau said.

He recalled that Poland also supported the idea of the ​​V4 on the participation of the countries of the Western Balkans in the conference on the future of the EU, which would be a form of support to them on the path towards the union.

Experiences gained by the V4 on the EU path can benefit the Western Balkans, Rau added, thanking North Macedonia as the presiding Western Balkan country and its Minister Bujar Osmani as well as Lajcak for contributing to the organization of the meeting, which provided an opportunity for constructive dialogue and exchange of ideas.

Osmani reminded that North Macedonia and Albania were not yet given the green light for negotiations, and stressed that the active role of the EU was very important for the quality of reforms and for the positive transformation of the region.

Otherwise, if the EU does not want to, someone else will, Osmani said, emphasizing that there must be no "plan B" for the European integration of the region, nor an alternative to the full membership of our countries.