Pahor Concerned for Western Balkans, Sees Solution in Quicker EU Enlargement

Vucic, Pahor (BETAPHOTO/STA/Daniel Novakovic/DS)

Slovenian President Borut Pahor voiced concern on Nov. 28 over certain statements made recently in the Western Balkans and stressed that the only response was to speed up the process of European Union enlargement to include the region.

"I'm concerned over certain processes in the Western Balkans, today even more over some of the statements we could hear and I think we can only respond to them with a speedy and successful enlargement of the European Union to that part of Europe," Pahor said in Belgrade after meeting with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic.

He said he had always been and would remain a supporter of the Western Balkans joining the EU, which was important for the prosperity of people in the region and in the EU, and was becoming crucial to peace and security. The Slovenian president said he had recently been warning that the EU association process had become too slow for the Western Balkans, which is why there has been a surge in political nationalisms and comments about border change which undermine peace and security in the region.

"The only answer to growing nationalism and ideas about redrawing borders in the Western Balkans is European Union enlargement and the EU has a responsibility to handle that better than it is now. This is a matter of peace and security, and these processes can be irreversible, so we should take care now, today," Pahor said, adding that this was the reason why he was in Belgrade.