Zovko: It is up to the political leadership of the candidate countries to demonstrate their commitment to join the EU

Strasbourg 10 February 2020

After last week’s presentation by the European Commission of the new enlargement methodology, the European Parliament discussed the proposal in its plenary session in Strasbourg. In her intervention, Željana Zovko, described the new methodology as a positive message to the Western Balkans. The EPP Vice-coordinator of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Member of the Working Group on the Western Balkans sees this proposal as crucial to prevent a repetition of blocking the accession talks.

Zovko especially welcomed the two key concepts in the methodology, namely credibility and political steering. „The Western Balkans need a credible accession perspective with appropriate European engagement based on lessons learnt. At the other side, it is up to the political leadership of the candidate countries to demonstrate their commitment to join the EU by enforcing fundamental, political and economical reforms, assisted by the European Union and inspired by our recommendations.“

Zovko called for more involvement of the European Parliament in the accession process and acknowledgement and implementation of the Parliament’s resolutions. She stated taht these resolutions focus on the progress and the way forward for the Western Balkan countries. „We are facilitators for enlargement, we are the strongest advocate of the Western Balkans within the EU institutions and therefore we expect our resolutions to be heard, discussed and implemented.“

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