site.btaEC Welcomes Sofia Summit Meeting on Western Balkans

Brussels, January 8 (BTA correspondent Nickolay Jeliazkov) - The European Commission welcomes the fact that the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council has set a date in May for a European leaders' summit meeting with the countries of the Western Balkans, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said here Monday.

He reiterated the Commission's commitment to all the countries in the Western Balkans having a European perspective and said that it will be decided in the next eight - nine months how to proceed with each country. "It is a merit-based process," he said.

"The perspective is there, the commitments are there, the willingness is there, the political atmosphere is there," he said.

He said that the success of the process is connected with good-neighbourly relations and mentioned as an example the Goodneighbourliness Treaty recently signed between Sofia and Skopje, as well as the ongoing talks between Macedonia and Greece.

He said that the European Commission is likely to assess in April the progress of the Western Balkans towards EU integration.