EC commends Macedonia’s significant progress on its road to EU

Macedonia is making significant progress on its European path and the European Commission is ready to prepare recommendations to open accession negotiations, on the basis of fulfilled conditions, reads the EC Strategy for the Western Balkans, presented Tuesday at joint press conference by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn.

All Western Balkans have the chance to move forward on their respective European paths. The Commission assesses all the countries in a fair and objective manner on the basis of their own merits and at the speed at which they achieve progress, the Strategy reads.

This perspective, it further notifies, will ultimately depend on strong political will, the delivery of real and sustained reforms, and definitive solutions to disputes with neighbors.

The Strategy explains the steps that need to be taken by Montenegro and Serbia to complete the accession process in a 2025 perspective; while others could catch up – Montenegro and Serbia are the only two countries with which accession talks are already under way.

The Commission will start preparing an opinion on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s membership application following receipt of comprehensive and complete answers to its questionnaire. With sustained effort and engagement, Bosnia and Herzegovina could become a candidate for accession. Kosovo has an opportunity for sustainable progress through implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement and to advance on its European path once objective circumstances allow, the Strategy says.