German Chancellor Angela Markel said Monday in Belgrade that the integration of the Western Balkans was in the
“absolute geostrategic interest”
of the European Union in the face of the influence of other powers in this region of Europe.
Angela Merkel is making Monday and Tuesday in Serbia and Albania one of her last trips abroad before stepping down after the September 26 elections.
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"We Europeans, who are already members of the European Union, should always keep in mind that there is an absolute geostrategic interest for us to really accept these countries into the EU,"
the Chancellor told the 'after a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
"We can see (...) that there are setbacks, there is also the influence of many other regions of the world" in the Balkans
, she continued.
We must constantly remember the geostrategic importance of bringing these countries closer to the EU ”.
The West and Russia have traditionally engaged in a struggle for influence in the region, where China's presence has also been clearly felt in recent years. Some analysts believe that European hesitation favors these rival influences. Angela Merkel will meet in Tirana on Tuesday with the leaders of six countries of the zone, Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia, which are at various stages of the process of rapprochement with the EU. . In the lead, Serbia and Montenegro opened accession negotiations years ago.
In March 2020, the EU gave the green light to open negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, but these have not started. Bosnia and Kosovo do not yet have candidate status. The Chancellor stressed that there is still
"a long way to go"
for these countries to one day join the European Union. She called for further progress in building a common economic market in the Balkans, a process initiated by Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia. Slovenia, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is preparing for October a summit with the countries of the region with the aim of relaunching enlargement.