Pedro Sánchez argues in Brussels that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the EU

Brussels (Belgium)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, today took part in the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brussels, a meeting that took place on the eve of the European Council, which will begin this Thursday with important issues to be discussed. This will also be the last European Council in which Spain holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU and, in this regard, President Sánchez has conveyed his commitment to the issues that EU27 will address from tomorrow.

In fact, one of the priorities that Spain set out in its road map at the beginning of its rotating presidency was to advance the process of integrating the Western Balkans into the EU. During this summit, the state of play in each of the five candidate countries, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, was discussed.

President Sánchez stressed the need to remain united in the face of a highly complex geopolitical landscape and the importance of aligning positions in a situation marked by growing rivalries. He argued that there is no European project without the addition of the Western Balkans. In this respect, he also recalled the progress in EU-Western Balkans cooperation in areas such as migration and security, and insisted on the growing alignment with EU positions on security and defence.

The president went on to point out that integration must be done in a responsible, gradual and merit-based manner, underlining the importance of regional cooperation and integration, as it contributes to a common goal: a future within the EU. To this effect, he positively assessed the efforts that have been made, highlighting important advances such as the creation of the Tirana Campus of the College of Europe, inaugurated in October, among others.

Non official translation