V4: Pandemic Gives New Arguments for EU's Speedy Enlargement to the Western Balkans

European union

The foreign ministers of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland met in Wadowice in southern Poland at the beginning of Poland's chairmanship over the Visegrad Group where they stressed that the pandemic and resulting crisis made the case for the EU's speedy enlargement to the Western Balkans, especially Serbia and Montenegro, even stronger.

"The situation after the coronavirus pandemic gives new arguments for speeding up the process of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans - to Serbia and Montenegro. Without this enlargement it is not possible to achieve stabilization in the region," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said during the meeting, according to the Polish media.

The host of the meeting, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz announced that Poland's motto was "A Return to Normalcy" and that one of the priorities of its chairmanship was supporting Western Balkans countries who were in the process of accession including support for the Eastern Partnership as part of the EU's neighborhood policy.