site.btaUPDATED PM Zhelyazkov: European Future of Western Balkans Is a Guarantee for Prosperity and Peace

“The European future of the Western Balkans is a guarantee for prosperity and peace, but also a safeguard against the influence of forces aiming at disunity and instability, both of the region and of the whole Europe,” Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov told a news briefing on Thursday, emerging from a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos.

The Prime Minister said that Marta Kos is a representative of an EU member state, deeply connected to the Balkans and a professional with extensive political and diplomatic experience. The election of a commissioner with such a profile to head enlargement issues within the new Commission is a clear sign that the Union remains committed to this policy and that it will be conducted with the necessary understanding of the specificities of the region, Zhelyazkov stressed.

He said that the integration of the Western Balkan countries is not a matter of bureaucratic judgement, it is a strategic choice related to the security, stability and competitiveness of the whole continent. The Prime Minister added that without the integration of this region, the European project cannot be complete. “Our understanding of integration includes not only political, institutional convergence, but also real opportunity between people - infrastructure, energy security, trade, mobility, digital transition.”

“Today, when Europe is facing many challenges, military conflicts, hybrid threats, migratory pressure and energy insecurity, the integration of the Western Balkans is not just an opportunity, but a responsibility of particular importance for Bulgaria and the Bulgarian government. The integration of these countries will make the EU stronger, more sustainable and closer to its citizens,” Zhelyazkov said.

According to the prime minister, it is an indisputable fact that as an EU member state, but also as a Balkan country, Bulgaria has always approached with special care and a high degree of responsibility the efforts for full and complete European integration of the Western Balkan countries. “We have not only supported and support, we will not only support this process, we consider it as part of our strategic vision for a stable, prosperous and united European continent,” Zhelyazkov said. “The history of cultural and demographic proximity with the countries of the region give us the confidence and a unique opportunity to be not only mediators between the Western Balkans and the EU, but also a driving force of this process and its advocate,” the prime minister said.

He said that Bulgaria knows the societies of the countries in the region, shares their hopes, knows their expectations and most importantly believes that the European perspective is the best way for their sustainable development. During Bulgaria's presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018, the Bulgarian government put the issue of the Western Balkans as an absolute priority on the Union's agenda. “We underlined even then that we support a European path for each country in the Western Balkans, guided by the principles of individual approach and the progress achieved. We believe that the commitment to reform must be two-sided - on the part of the candidates, but also on the part of the EU. Predictability, honesty, clarity and dialogue are needed,” Zhelyazkov said.