Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov noted that NATO is increasing its efforts on the accession of Macedonia to that alliance and added that they have similar plans for BiH as well. He also stated that it strengthens the lines of separation in Europe and weakens the architecture of European safety.
“It is hard to believe that it matches the interests of the people of Europe. Also, the Alliance could not provide an adequate response to the main challenge of today – international terrorism,” said Minister Lavrov.
Lavrov stated that Moscow does not see any problem with the intention of the Balkan countries to join the EU, but that they, without any interference, should assess to which extent the preconditions of Brussels suit their national interests.
“The wish to be part of the EU should not represent a barrier for the cooperation of these countries with Russia. If there is a desire, we can always find a mutually acceptable kind of cooperation,” said Lavrov.
He said that Russia, which started the initiative for concluding the agreement on European security, will continue working on ensuring that the security in a common “European home” is indivisible.
“Sputnjik” also recalled that candidates from the region of Western Balkans for EU membership are Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, where Serbia (since 2014) and Montenegro (since 2012) are already negotiating on the accession, while BiH is waiting for its candidate status since February 2016.
(Source: N1)
