GENEVA
Vienna hopes to bring Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo closer to the bloc’s foreign policy, the Austrian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
According to a ministry statement, this initiative is also supported by the group of Friends of the Western Balkans, which includes current EU members Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, of the conservative ruling OVP party, founded the group last June in order to “finally move forward the process of enlargement to Southeast Europe”, in his words.
The Austrian non-paper calls, among other things, for the regular participation of Western Balkan partners in EU foreign affairs councils at least once every six months. The document is also intended to serve as a contribution to the EU-Western Balkans ministerial meeting to be held on Monday evening in Brussels.
“As the region is exposed to destabilizing factors such as third-party malign influence, hybrid threats, disinformation and illegal migration, this agenda should also provide new impetus to deepen cooperation in the field of foreign policy and common security and (EU) security and establish a more regular and structured exchange with our partners in accordance with established EU procedures and policies,” the document states.
Pushing back against Moscow’s influence in the region, the ministry added: “Increased cooperation would allow us to counter external pressure and Russian and other harmful narratives in the region that are incompatible with EU values and a rules-based international framework. »
The document also calls for the participation of Western Balkan states in informal meetings of EU ambassadors, more coordinated visits to the region and a common language with third countries.
Furthermore, he said that regular workshops with experts on human rights issues should be organized to complement the implementation of the justice chapters in the EU accession negotiations.
Other proposals include training young diplomats in affected countries and increased cooperation on cybersecurity issues.
