Summit with Merkel: Balkan countries must continue to worry about joining the EU

At a summit meeting, the EU again holds out the prospect of accession to the Balkan countries.

However, many questions remain unanswered for the candidates.

Kranj - The European Union is again shaking hands with Balkan countries such as Serbia and Montenegro, despite sluggish reform progress.

At a summit meeting in Slovenia, Chancellor Angela Merkel * (CDU) and the other heads of state and government of the EU states acknowledged the EU enlargement process for the first time in a long time.

However, the EU failed to provide a clear temporal perspective for inclusion in the circle.

Accession will also in future be made dependent on the progress of the reforms, according to the summit's final declaration.

EU accession of the Balkan countries: Macron keeps veto open

French President Emmanuel Macron * also implemented a new restriction on EU expansion.

The prerequisite is a further development of the Union itself. With this, the government in Paris wants to keep open the possibility of a veto for the admission of new members if, from the French point of view, the EU should not achieve its own reform goals.

Merkel votes for a new billion-euro package for aspirants to join

The accession aspirants Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo still lack real clarity about their accession chances.

But they should still be encouraged to make reform efforts.

According to the summit declaration, around 1.1 billion euros in EU funds will flow through an economic and investment plan this year alone.

Overall, the EU plans to

invest

around 30 billion euros in the region

over

the next seven years

- including through new guarantees.