Varhelyi: Economic Growth of Region, Accession to EU Possible Only with Reforms

Oliver Varhelyi (Beta/European Commission/Dati Bendo)

European Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said on Nov 12 that a European Commission economic and investment plan for the Western Balkans would help modernize the economies of the region and move them closer to the EU market, but that economic growth was only possible if the governments conducted the necessary reforms.

At a webinar called, Incentives for the Economies of the Western Balkan Countries - The European Commission's Economic and Investment Plan in Focus, Varhelyi said that investment without reforms "will never bring the benefits that it is supposed to bring."

Varhelyi said that Brussels is "firmly convinced" that the region's future lies in the EU and that the process of European integrations was inextricably tied to the reforms that these countries need to carry out.