Dragi called for immediate start of negotiations with S. Macedonia and Albania to join the EU
The Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi today called for an "urgent" start to official accession talks between northern Macedonia and Albania with the EU and called for "acceleration" of negotiations with Serbia-Montenegro.
At a time when the EU is strengthening its unity and supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian offensive, "the full integration of countries with European aspirations is not a threat to the European project, it is part of its realization," Draghi said in a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg. .
He said Italy supported "the immediate opening of EU membership negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia in line with the decision taken by the European Council in March 2020".
"We want to give a new impetus to the negotiations with Serbia-Montenegro and show more attention to the legitimate aspirations of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo," Dragi said.
The Italian Prime Minister stressed that he supports the entry of all those countries into the EU and wants Ukraine to join as well.
- We should follow the accession process that we have established, but we should also act in that as soon as possible, said Dragi.