Western Balkans must no longer hesitate and "deliver on key reforms," EU's Borrell warns

Record ID: 1701077

  • Title: Western Balkans must no longer hesitate and "deliver on key reforms," EU's Borrell warns
  • Date: 6th December 2022
  • Summary: TIRANA, ALBANIA (DECEMBER 6, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF, JOSEP BORRELL, SAYING: "The Western Balkans have decided to embark on the European path. This is a two-way street, and we also expect the region to deliver on key reforms and certainly to show the will to embrace European ambition and the spirit. Many do. But we see also hesitations." WHITE FRAME (SOUNDBITE)(English) EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF, JOSEP BORRELL, SAYING: "Hybrid threat has become a serious challenge for the region. You know that some of the states of the region have been considered unfriendly states by Russia and they suffer the consequences. And we are committed to intensify our efforts to enhance the resilience both from the state and the society in the Western Balkans. We have launched a rapid response intervention (team) to tackle the hybrid challenges and cyber attacks. When Albania was struck by the first big cyber attack, I talked with (Albanian) Prime Minister (Edi) Rama and now our experts are already deployed (on) the ground."
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2022 12:15
  • Keywords: Accession talks Albania Bettel Borrell Cyber attack Cyber security Diplomacy EU Energy Enlargement European Union Foreign Policy France Germany Hybrid threat Luxembourg Macron Meeting Price Reforms Russia Scholz Summit Tirana Ukraine Western Balkans electrcity
  • Location: TIRANA, ALBANIA
  • City: TIRANA, ALBANIA
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: European Union,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA002474206122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The head of the European Union's diplomacy on Tuesday (December 6) warned Western Balkans that the European path was a "two-way street" and called for accession-hopeful countries "to show the will to embrace European ambition."
    "Many do. But we see also hesitations," Josep Borrell told reporters ahead of a summit in the Albanian capital Tirana.
    The comment came as EU leaders will also push their Balkans counterparts to be more forceful in implementing EU standards such as the rule of law, gender equality and the fight against corruption, while aligning with EU policies such as the sanctions on Russia.
    Serbia in particular, which was bombed by NATO two decades ago, has long struggled to balance historically close ties with Russia against aspirations for integration with the West.
    The summit between European Union and Western Balkans leaders is meant to reassure the region of a future in the wealthy bloc amid fears of rising Russian and Chinese influence.
    The leaders of the six Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have long expressed disillusion that negotiations have not started or are stalled, years after being promised eventual EU membership.
    French President Emmanuel Macron said the current energy crisis would top the meeting's agenda with the 27-member bloc planning to disburse one billion euros "for direct aid to households and businesses."
    "These are very concrete advances in terms of solidarity, then it is the deepening and densification of our political agenda," Macron said, adding the issue of cyber attacks would also be discussed.
    "You know that some of the states of the region have been considered unfriendly states by Russia and they suffer the consequences. And we are committed to intensify our efforts to enhance the resilience both from the state and the society in the Western Balkans," Borrell said.
    In another concrete step towards integration, telecommunications operators from the EU and the Western Balkans leaders signed a deal at the start of the summit on a cut in data roaming charges from Oct. 2023.
    The EU's aim is to give greater stability to a region that emerged from the break-up of Yugoslavia and the ethnic wars of the 1990s but is still racked by tensions.
    (Production: Fatos Bytyci, Clement Rossignol)
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