EU Commissioner: All Western Balkan Countries Have a Place in the European Union

Marta Kos (BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV)

The European Union’s Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said on May 11 in Brussels that the clear message she had for the Western Balkans was that there’s a place for all the states of the region in the EU enlargement process, adding in a separate reference to Serbia that that payments from the Union's Growth Plan had not been suspended officially.

"I have a clear message: there is a place in the Union for all the Western Balkan countries. Enlargement is a priority for the EU and if our candidate countries deliver results, then we must deliver results as well," Kos told reporters ahead of the start of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting and a working breakfast with the six Western Balkan partners.

Kos pointed out that the EU was already delivering results in the area of enlargement and noted that, for the first time in 17 years, a working group had been established to handle the accession of a new country, Montenegro. The EU enlargement commissioner said the Union was also producing tangible results regarding the gradual integration of candidate countries, noting that Serbia joined Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia in the SEPA payment system last week. She added that preparations were under way for the EU-Western Balkans summit to be held in Podgorica on June 5.

Responding to a question about Serbia, Kos said she had never heard that European Union Growth Plan funds for Serbia had been frozen. "I have never heard that the funds were frozen, and that is very important for Serbia. Serbia has a place in the European Union - a democratic Serbia," she said.