The European Union has wasted a lot of time and trust in the Western Balkans, and if it wants to win the competition with Russia and China, it must revive the prospect of membership, but in such a way that the candidates will immediately feel part of the benefits of EU membership, said the president of the foreign policy committee of the German Bundestag, Michael Roth, reported the correspondent of MIA from Belgrade.

In an op-ed for Die Zeit, Roth emphasized that Europe must take decisive steps to show that cooperation with liberal democracies is much more attractive and sustainable than cooperation with authoritarian regimes.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine, according to Roth, woke the EU from its deep geopolitical slumber and made it "rediscover one of its most successful instruments - the policy of enlargement".

That policy, writes Roth, was "an engine of peace, democracy, the rule of law and well-being in Europe, and now it is time to consistently continue that success story in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans."

- The return of the war in Europe made us realize that the stabilization and integration of our eastern and southeastern neighbors is in our interest, and above all, in our interest. The enlargement process therefore needs to be reformed in such a way that people in the candidate countries, even before formal membership, can gradually profit from the first advantages of the EU, said Roth, who was state secretary in Germany's foreign ministry from 2013 to 2021. .

He indicated that six proposals could serve as guidelines for such a reform of the accession process by which the candidate countries will be step by step integrated into the EU structures even before formal membership.

First of all, representatives of candidate countries that have made satisfactory progress in the areas of democracy, rule of law and good governance in the framework of the negotiations should now regularly attend European Council meetings and selected meetings of the EU Council of Ministers, and the decision on this should be adopted by a qualified decision of the Council of the EU and the European Parliament on the recommendation of the European Commission.

- Even before the accession, the EU should cooperate even more closely with the candidate countries in important areas such as security, energy and infrastructure, assesses Roth.

He points out that, especially with winter coming, it is necessary to secure the region's energy supply and that gradual access to the European common market would be a tempting incentive for candidates on their way to the EU.

Pre-accession aid to support integration efforts, according to Roth, should be increased significantly to fill investment gaps and reduce the attractiveness of Chinese loans.

One of the proposals is for the EU members to take "godparents" for individual candidate countries, in order to observe and support their European path technically and politically from close proximity.