EP President Supports EU Membership of Western Balkans
The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, has called for the membership of the Western Balkan countries in the European Union.
Sassoli stresses that enlarging the union would be positive for peace and prosperity, both in the region and in Europe.
"Enlargement can bring great benefits to both the region and Europe as a whole, helping to ensure a stable, prosperous and peaceful continent," Sassoli said.
On one hand, Sassoli says that the countries aspiring to integration must complete the reforms, but in the meantime, he also says that the EU must keep its promises and recognize the progress made.
Brussels is currently holding accession talks with Serbia and Montenegro, while the main candidates are Albania and Northern Macedonia.
The integration process for the latter has remained stagnant, due to a veto imposed by Bulgaria following a dispute over language and history. Bulgaria, which wants Skopje to acknowledge that both its identity and its language are Bulgarian, said last month that it had no plans to lift the veto for accession talks.
Skopje insists Macedonian is a distinct South Slavic language that forms part of the country's culture and national identity, while Sofia says Macedonian is a regional dialect of Bulgarian. It remains to be seen whether Albania will be separated from Northern Macedonia in the integration process.