Macron Says EU Has Special Responsibility Toward Western Balkans

(BETAPHOTO/HINA/POOL/Damir SENCAR/MO)

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the EU's reengagement and investment in the Western Balkans in light of the new tensions arising there and the "interference of regional forces" that are trying to destabilize Europe.

"Today, this region is hit by new tensions. History repeats there, sometimes tragedy too," the French president said at the Elysee Palace late on Dec. 9, in a presentation of the priorities of France's EU presidency in the first half of 2022.

He announced that a European conference on the Western Balkans would be held in June, as part of the French presidency of the Union.

"We have a special responsibility towards the Western Balkans today, we should lead a policy of reengagement but also investment there, to support the economic integration of that region... And also to fight interference, manipulation by multiple regional forces which aim to destabilize Europe through the Balkans," said Macron. 

"I believe that this job, which is a political and economic job toward the Western Balkans, is a real plan of sovereignty for our Europe, because we cannot build a Europe of peace for the next 50 years if we let the Western Balkans stay in the situation they are in today," warned Macron.

He also called for "clarifying the European perspective" of the Western Balkan countries that had been blocked for years outside the EU's doors.