BELGRADE – European Parliament rapporteur on Serbia David McAllister said Monday that the regional cooperation between countries in the Western Balkans is equally important as their European path, adding that he does not believe that all six countries will join the EU at the same time.
All six countries must be analyzed individually. Serbia can join the EU when it is ready and in the meantime it should carry on negotiating. I do not believe that all six countries will join the EU at the same time, McAllister said at a panel on European integration at the 15th Economic Summit of Serbia.
He stressed that Serbia and Montenegro have made significant progress towards the EU, while on the other hand the situation in Macedonia is “rather worrying”.
He underlined the importance of regional cooperation and specifically the role of Serbia.
The engagement of Serbia and personal commitment of Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic in strengthening ties in the region have been met with positive responses from Brussels, said McAllister, pointing to the mutual state visits by Serbian Prime Minister Vucic and his Albanian counterpart Edi Rama as an example of a positive signal and a role model for the Western Balkans.