The Slovenia Times

EU urged to return SE Europe to top of agenda

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Slovenia's Borut Pahor, Croatia's Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and Germany's Frank Walter Steinmeier made the appeal after talking to Western Balkan presidents at the summit of the leaders of the Brdo-Brijuni Process on Saturday.

Pahor said it was clear that there was a lack of dialogue so it was important that the leaders meet and talk. He said the preservation of stability in the region had to be on the agenda of the EU as well as all member states and diplomats.

Enlargement has stalled due to issues such as Brexit, relations with Russia and Turkey, the situation in the Middle East. "There is no reason why we should not try to prevent Western Balkans from appearing on the list of these issues," he said. "We have to do everything to preserve peace, security and prosperity."

But even as he made the appeal to the EU to consider the Balkans, Pahor stressed that countries in the region had to do a lot themselves as well, starting with respectful rhetoric that promotes reconciliation, friendship and an atmosphere and co-existence.

Grabar-Kitarović said it was important to broach burning issues before they escalated into full-blown problems. The region must be permanently on the EU's agenda and very specific steps must follow in the enlargement process.

Steinmeier echoed Pahor's view when he said problems the EU and individual member states were dealing with may not be a deterrent to dealing with SE Europe. He noted that all those who remember what the late 1990s were like do not want to see those times repeating.

"We must realise that what succeeds here, and what does not succeed, will affect us all," he said, calling for peace and stability of the region to be a top priority for the EU.

The statement adopted after the trio met with the presidents of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia highlights that countries in the region must continue on the path of reform and resolve their problems peacefully.

"In order to obtain stability, rule of law needs to become the prevailing principle in all aspects and throughout the neighbourhood. Equally so, open dialogue should be strengthened and nationalistic and inflammatory rhetoric avoided," the statement reads.

The EU, meanwhile, must make sure to keep its doors open to new entrants. "It is not enough to only promise the distant prospect of EU membership to maintain confidence in the accession process...Tangible political actions are needed."

Foreign ministers or their deputies also held a meeting at the summit, with Slovenia's Karl Erjavec and Croatia's Davor Ivo Stier stressing that both countries would continue to work towards preserving the EU prospects of the region.

Erjavec acknowledged that the EU faced many challenges, including migrations, terrorism and Brexit, but he said the enlargement process needed to "remain a key goal for the EU." "We cannot imagine a green area in [Europe's] territory," he said. "We are convinced a stable Western Balkans brings stability to the entire EU."

The unresolved border issue between Slovenia and Croatia was not officially broached, but when quizzed by reporters about the issue, the officials from both countries indicated their positions remained unchanged.

Croatia has walked out of the arbitration process after a scandal involving Slovenia's agent on the court and one of the arbiters and now insists the border dispute needs to be resolved in a different manner.

Slovenia insists on continuing with arbitration since the arbitral tribunal decided to continue its work nevertheless, arguing the violation was not as grave as to void the arbitration process.

Pahor however stressed that even though the border issue was not discussed, the two sides having signed the arbitration agreement in 2009 allowed them to launch the Brdo-Brijuni Process in the first place.

When the arbitration tribunal reaches its decision, both sides will have six months to realise it. If they fail they will "no longer have the moral authority to lead this process".

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