Ljubljana - Although Slovenia did not succeed with its proposal that Bosnia-Herzegovina be granted EU candidate status along with Ukraine and Moldova at the latest EU summit, Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon is very pleased, as she believes the initiative opened a very important debate and showed proactivity and unity.

"Although we haven't achieved the ambitious goal, I am very pleased," Fajon said about yesterday's EU summit in Brussels as she addressed reporters after today's session of the Foreign Ministry's council.

She said it had actually been clear that such a feat could not be achieved in just a week. EU candidate country status for Bosnia-Herzegovina was not even on the agenda of the European Council, but still the initiative achieved a lot, Fajon said.

"It opened a significantly more important general debate on what is happening with the EU enlargement" and without the Slovenian initiative this debate would definitely not be "as loud and heated and honest" as it was.

According to Fajon, Slovenia has shown a "very proactive policy towards the Western Balkans" and most of all a unified and strong foreign policy.

This is why the minister said this week had been successful for Slovenian diplomacy and marked the start of a journey to speed up the process of the Western Balkan's EU accession - the process of granting Bosnia the status of candidate country, lifting the blockade for North Macedonia and starting its accession talks, starting the accession talks with Albania, and visa liberalisation for Kosovo.

This would strengthen the EU's credibility and foremost reduce potential security risks in the region, the minister believes.

Fajon also welcomed yesterday's decision by EU leaders to grant EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, and support Georgia's EU aspirations.