Varhelyi: Progress Made in the Rule of Law in the Balkans, but Much Needs To Be Done

Oliver Varhelyi(BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/MO)

Responding to a MEP’s question, EU Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi has said that EU’s assistance to the Western Balkans has contributed to making progress in the rule of law, but that much needs to be done, particularly taking into account the fact that the new enlargement methodology has intensified the focus on this region.  

MEP Julie Lechanteux, a member of the Identity and Democracy Group in the European Parliament, asked Varheilyi how the European Commission (EC), considering slow progress in the rule of law in the Western Balkans, was planning to pursue the EU enlargement policy. In his reply, Varhelyi said that the EC had welcomed a report of the European Court of Auditors (ECA) on the EU support to the rule of law in the Western Balkans, which admitted that the EU had contributed to the reforms.  

The reforms, according to Varhelyi’s response, have contributed to progress in the rule of law in the Western Balkans such as boosting judicial efficiency. “It was also crucial for the implementation of a legal framework and promotion of proactive approach to curbing corruption, especially in certain partner countries in the region,” it is said in the response of the European commissioner.  

Varhelyi also said that EC annual reports for the period 2014-2020 showed that all EU partners in the Western Balkans had progressed in the rule of law and that some had achieved particularly good and sustainable progress.