Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias’ remarks at the “Prespa Forum Dialogue 2022” Session “The European Peace Project in the Western Balkans” (Ohrid, 16.06.2022)
Your Excellencies, Dear Colleagues, Dear Friends,The EU and the Western Balkans should do their own share in this respect. Our partners need to fulfill the relevant criteria according to the set conditionality. But, also, the EU needs to get the enlargement in the Western Balkans back on track and very quickly, if I may say so.These potentially very risky elements coincide with a set of crises in the wider region linked to economy, energy and food. Crises caused or aggravated by the illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine. Thank you so much.However, there are significant positive indications as well. Can I talk now a little bit about our big home, our big family, the European Union. The European Union was created as a visionary project of peace. A project that would promote economic and political integration. And today’s European Union is the outcome of that initial choice. A choice that we, Europeans, need to defend. We should continue to strive tirelessly for cementing peace, stability and sustainable development.We should all work very closely together, so we can turn the region into a truly European neighborhood. Put this region into the European family where it actually belongs.I would like to conclude with a word of caution regarding the presence of third actors in the region. Actors which promote adversarial political and economic agendas. Such agendas, different to the European agenda, run counter to our collective interests, and they attempt to undermine the EU-Western Balkans relationship.