Blanar: EU Incomplete without Western Balkans, Slovakia Rejects Double Standards

Skopje, 29 October (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia supports the accession of the Western Balkan states to the European Union, as the EU isn't complete without them, and Slovakia refuses to apply double standards in its approach to candidate countries, Foreign and European Affairs Minister Juraj Blanar (Smer-SD) has told a press conference also attended by his counterpart from North Macedonia Timco Mucunski, reports a TASR special correspondent from Skopje. According to Blanar, the EU often applies double standards in its approach to individual candidate countries. "We reject this," he stressed, expressing Slovakia's disagreement with the idea that Western Balkan states that have been in the accession process for "a very long time" should be overtaken by Eastern Partnership countries such as Ukraine, Moldova, or, possibly, Georgia. He is, however, pleased that greater emphasis is beginning to be placed on the Western Balkans region, as evidenced, for example, by visits undertaken by European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "This is the only way in which we can accelerate membership of the European Union. Of course, with everything that goes with it. And I really want to commend the government of North Macedonia for pressing ahead with its reforms; it has a government that is truly highly motivated and stable enough to see this process through," he said, adding that he sees this as an opportunity to make progress in the accession process. According to Blanar, Slovakia has proposed speeding up certain processes that have been dragging on for a long time, in a way that wouldn't undermine the rules on enlargement enshrined in EU treaties. "For example, we proposed - and we made this clear to Commissioner Kos as well as to all our colleagues - that certain processes requiring a unanimous vote could be combined, as they are often subject to obstruction by some EU-member states, causing us to waste time unnecessarily," he stated. In the case of some states, the accession processes are also being hampered by bilateral issues which, according to Blanar, could be resolved much more effectively around a single table in Brussels. However, he respects such views and believes that they can be addressed. Slovakia's chief diplomat believes that a clear signal must be sent to the Western Balkans that membership is a realistic prospect. "Because if it doesn't happen in the near future, the frustration in these countries will only grow, and we may lose this region, which none of us wants," he added. am/df