Brussels: 2nd Southern Mediterranean & SE European Conference: 2023 a milestone year for EU enlargement
The Commissioner was speaking at the 2nd Eastern Mediterranean & Southeastern Europe conference, organised in Brussels by the Delphi Economic Forum.
Varheli predicted that enlargement to add the Western Balkans will finally take place this year.
He also pointed out that in just one year the EU had welcomed three new candidate countries seeking accession - Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina - that the European perspective of Georgia had been recognised, the long-awaited accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia had begun, while Kosovo submitted an application to become a member of the EU.
"So we came a long way last year and this year, but my hope is that 2023 will be a landmark year for EU enlargement, because the new geopolitical situation gives impetus to enlargement in general. EU leaders have clearly confirmed the perspective of the Western Balkans for EU accession and called for the acceleration of the enlargement process," he stressed.
The EU commissioner pointed out that enlargement is currently one of the three main priorities of the EU, but it is much more than an institutional process, since it is actually linked to the integration of the societies and economies of the Western Balkans.
Referring to the obstacles to the development path of the Western Balkans, Varheli spoke about the shortcomings in terms of transport infrastructure, pointing out that if there are no roads and networks to transport their products to the market, investors are not going to place their their capital in the region. That is why the EU has already taken action with projects in the specific fields: "We are already changing the face of the Western Balkans (...), but we need to take the next step, which is the Development Plan."
