A strategy for the European Union accession of Serbia and Montenegro, which was announced in September by the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, will be published in February 2018. And it might also include all of the countries of the Western Balkans.
The announced Strategy foresees the perspective accession to the EU of Serbia and Montenegro by 2025. There are now reports that the Strategy also includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
As reported by European Western Balkans online, it is also stated that the Strategy foresees that Albania implements reforms in several key areas, one of which is judicial reform and that FYROM will have the same task, and that its main obstacle on the path towards the EU – the name dispute with Greece, must be resolved.
The Strategy was confirmed last week by the Deputy Secretary-General for Global and Economic issues in the EEAS, Christian Leffler, who was one of the speakers at the conference “A Coming Storm? Shaping a Balkan Future in an Era of Uncertainty”, which was organised by the Atlantic Council in Washington.
According to European Western Balkans, Leffler stated it is necessary to work with the countries of the Balkans as well as with people who live there to advance their path to the EU.
“There has been a progress – this year, the EU showed renewed focus on an engagement with the countries of the Western Balkans, but it has been a challenging year for some of the countries,” adding that the EU finds that the region is in a better shape now than it was in the beginning of the year.
