The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, while participating at the Munich Conference on Security, stressed the importance of providing an European perspective to the countries of the Western Balkans, but insisted that they have to resolve all border disputes before joining the bloc.
“There are numerous border disputes in the Western Balkans and they have to be resolved before we move one step ahead, “ Juncker stated.
Due to bad experience with Croatia and Slovenia, Western Balkan countries will have to resolve their border disputes before joining the European Union (EU), as the agencies reported.
He said it was “difficult” to observe the Croatian-Slovenian dispute over the border, for which he thinks it could be solved before the two states became members of the Union.
The Head of the European Commission therefore reiterates that conflicts in the Balkans have to be solved before the countries of this region join the EU.
Noticing that they are not yet ready for the membership, Juncker emphasized that perspective still exists.
“This is a very sensitive area due to the 1990s conflict. The enlargement perspective enables us to export stability to the Western Balkans, instead of importing instability in the EU, “ Juncker said.
(Source: faktor.ba)
