Balkan leaders have slammed the EU enlargement target set for 2030 by European Council President Charles Michel.
EU candidate countries have accused the Brussels institutions of moving the goalposts and expressed a number of concerns about the timetable set by Michel.
Speaking at a forum in Bled, Slovenia on Monday, the The head of the council said that the EU should be ready to accept new members in 2030 in a bid to reinvigorate the debate on EU enlargement. But his comments aroused the annoyance of Western Balkan leaders and the European Commission. who refused to approve target.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama expressed doubts that his country will be ready to join by 2030 – but he blamed Brussels for this.
“We need not only the necessary reforms and criticism, but also the most constant support, and I am not only talking about the financial point of view, but also about the access of our companies to the market,” said the leader Albanian. that the EU lags behind the US and China in its financial support for infrastructure in the region.
Some Balkan countries have been EU candidates for years, raising concerns in the region that Brussels does not want them to join the club. But Russia’s war in Ukraine has reignited the enlargement debate, which will be discussed by EU leaders at an informal meeting in Spain in October.
Speaking in Bled, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic accused the EU to move the goalposts and drag its feet on EU enlargement.
“The first reason is that the process takes a long time and there is no end in sight. The second is that the criteria or what you need to do to progress is constantly changing,” she said.
His Montenegrin counterpart Dritan Abazović also criticized the EU for failing to keep its promises in the Balkans.
“It’s not fair that we are asked to do something and after we have done it they say: ‘That’s good, but now is not the time to do something,’” he declared.
“2030 is too far away for us,” Abazović added, referring to Michel’s goal.
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