For Miroslav Lajcak, EU special
envoy for the Western Balkans and mediator in the Kosovo
dialogue, the next European Commission will devote even more
attention to enlargement, with the prospect of integrating the
countries of the region never so clear and realistic in the past
20 years. "The European Union is more ready than ever, and it is
important that the Balkans do not miss now the train that could
be the only one to hook accession," Lajcak said speaking today
at the Economic Forum in Delphi, Greece. The prediction, he
added quoted by media in Belgrade, is that the new Commission
that will take office after the June elections will devote even
more attention to the enlargement process. Noting how "Russia's
aggression against Ukraine was like an invitation to wake up,"
Lajcak said he sees "for the first time the European Union more
prepared towards the Balkans than the Balkans towards the
European Union, being (the Balkans) very skeptical." Referring
to the Kosovo issue, however, the Slovak diplomat stressed that
the EU has made it very clear that it does not intend to import
"unresolved problems and outstanding bilateral issues" into the
EU. Such problems will have to be resolved before EU accession,
Lajcak warned.
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