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)
The war in Ukraine highlighted the strategic importance of the European Union-Western Balkans relationship. The EU remains the biggest trade and investment partner of the Western Balkans. Cooperation on foreign policy with Western Balkans partners has stepped up, also in relation to Ukraine. 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.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. In this context, the region’s European integration remains an unfinished business 19 years after the 2003 “Thessaloniki Agenda”. 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.