Central European states urge EU to speed up enlargement in west Balkans

Record ID: 898787

  • Title: Central European states urge EU to speed up enlargement in west Balkans
  • Date: 10th July 2017
  • Summary: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (RECENT, 2017) (REUTERS) DANUBE AND CITY VIEW CITY VIEW
  • Embargoed: 24th July 2017 17:36
  • Keywords: EU west Balkans enlargement Visegrad Group Szijjarto
  • Location: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • City: BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
  • Country: Hungary
  • Topics: European Union,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016P4XWS9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Seven Central European member states called on the European Union on Monday (July 10) to accelerate the accession of Montenegro and Serbia to the bloc, saying a failure to integrate the western Balkans could pose a security threat to the whole region.
    Foreign ministers and deputy foreign ministers of the four Visegrad Group countries -- Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic -- as well as Austria, Slovenia and Croatia met in Budapest to discuss issues including migration and the situation in the western Balkans and Ukraine.
    Szijjarto said the EU should accelerate its ongoing accession talks with Montenegro and Serbia and should open membership negotiations with the other countries in the western Balkans as well.
    Albania and Macedonia are EU candidate nations but have yet to start their accession talks, while Bosnia and Kosovo have yet to be granted candidacy status, though both hope to join the EU.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2017. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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