site.btaSofia and London Join Forces to Boost Western Balkans' European Integration

London, October 15 (BTA) - Bulgaria and the United Kingdom have reaffirmed the strategic nature of their bilateral relations, including in the field of defence and security, and have agreed to work together for the European perspective, stability and prosperity of the Western Balkans. This emerged after Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva talked with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London on Sunday, Zaharieva's ministry reported.

Bulgaria's top diplomat was paying a two-day working visit to the UK over the weekend.

Bulgaria will host a Western Balkans Summit in May 2018 during the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, and a few months later London will play host to a meeting of the countries participating in the Berlin Process. Johnson quipped that the joint efforts of Bulgaria and the UK vis-а-vis the Western Balkans could be called "the Sofia-to-London Process".

Zaharieva told her host: "It is important not only to Bulgaria but also to Europe to see that our partners and friends in the Western Balkans are stable." She noted that she has recently visited five of the six Western Balkan nations and next week she will travel to Kosovo. "They are all motivated," she said. "My message to them has been that they should seize the chance as five countries favouring EU enlargement preside over the EU Council one after the other. But on the other hand, the Western Balkans need to do their homework."

Zaharieva noted that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini have unequivocally supported the bloc's further enlargement.

Johnson expressed his certainty that the forthcoming Bulgarian EU Presidency will be very successful. "What you are doing in the Western Balkans is very important to us and we support you," he said, adding that these countries need a Euro-Atlantic perspective. He urged Bulgaria to coordinate its actions with the UK.

Zaharieva insisted that each of these countries should have a plan for accession to the EU. She said: "Our experience shows that the people in the Balkans do not want to be divided anymore. The longer the integration process, the greater the risk of growing demotivation."

The sides concurred that the Western Balkan countries should be admitted to the EU on the basis of their own merits. At the same time, they need to be supported in order to improve their connectivity at all levels.