At the beginning of December, a new summit of the leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans will be held, for the first time in one of the countries of the region, in North Macedonia or in Albania, RTS reported citing diplomatic sources in Brussels.

As reported by the MIA correspondent from Belgrade, that meeting should give a new, strong signal of the EU's commitment to the Western Balkans, with a message to the countries of the region to take advantage of the newly created political environment in Europe, in order to improve the accession process and solving open issues in the region.

Although the consultations are still ongoing, European diplomatic circles assess that Serbia has no chance of hosting this meeting at the highest level, primarily due to Belgrade's non-compliance with the EU's foreign policy towards the war in Ukraine.

- The positions and rhetoric of Serbia regarding the sanctions against Russia and the war in Ukraine are unacceptable for many member states, the European diplomats state for RTS and assess that the summit "will probably be held in North Macedonia or Albania".

In Brussels, they assess that the war in Ukraine has strengthened the awareness in Europe of the importance of the enlargement policy for the stability of the continent, which is also shown by the demonstrated readiness for rapid progress in the talks with Ukraine and other countries that were not part of the process until recently.

- It is important that the countries of the Western Balkans do not remain on the sidelines and thereby miss the momentum for faster progress, diplomatic sources state and assess that in the coming months, ways will be sought for concrete progress in issues such as the beginning of negotiations with North Macedonia , more concrete progress in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, the candidate status for BiH and Pristina's request for visa liberalization.

Before the summit in December, a summit of the so-called European Political Community will be held in Prague on October 6, at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

This new format should bring EU members and those countries that do not have, or do not want, the prospect of membership on the same table, providing a platform for regular debate on issues of common interest to the entire continent, from security and energy to climate change and connectivity.

Along with the invitations to the countries of the Western Balkans, as reported by RTS, the President of the European Council Michel and the Czech Prime Minister Vijala also invited Great Britain, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Israel to the summit.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz supported the European Political Community project, warning that it cannot be a substitute for EU enlargement and announced a "revival" of the Berlin Process and holding a new summit of this initiative on November 3 in Berlin, with a focus on the Green agenda and the common regional market.

Many member states consider that the Berlin Process is an insufficiently inclusive format, as it gathers only one third of the EU members, and therefore a signal for a wider European political engagement in the Balkans is needed, inter alia through the summit of the leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans. announced for the beginning of December in the region, RTS reported.

Source: MIA