Borut Pahor, former President of the Republic of Slovenia, addressed the media at the “Friends of the Western Balkans” conference held in Ljubljana. He stated that his address at the conference did not receive applause because he emphasized that he does not believe that the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkan countries will be ready for EU Membership by 2030, or even later.
“I didn’t feel that there was so much optimism among us at the conference to think that it’s possible by 2030. In 2004, that optimism existed, and I said it. No one believes that the EU and the countries in the region will be ready by 2030 if we continue like this, and even by 2050, the region won’t be ready. We all know that time is running out, and with all these geopolitical challenges – the war in Ukraine, and the conflict in the Middle East – let’s not joke around. We are responsible for preserving peace and the well-being of people in that part of Europe. Only EU enlargement is a sustainable guarantee of peace and stability,” said Pahor.
Speaking about the stalled dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, he offered himself as a replacement for Miroslav Lajcak as the EU’s Special Envoy and stated that the dialogue stopped due to a lack of trust.
“I have decided to engage in this process, offering them all the references that I believe I have, to provide my plan. We need to find a way to move forward because without dialogue, nothing can be achieved for either Kosovo or Serbia, what they need for the future,” Pahor concluded, N1 writes.
