PRAGUE – “It is crucial to see the support of the Visegrad countries in supporting the European project and the integration of the Western Balkans in the European Union”, assessed the European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi at the joint press conference following the meeting of foreign ministers of the Visegrad Group and the Western Balkans on February 26.
Várhelyi reminded that the priority for the acting Commission is to get the Western Balkans as close as possible to us and to get the Western Balkans in the European Union.
He also reflected on “often criticism” about the enlargement being a very administrative process, stressing the need for improvement in terms of the “public and the politics of the Member States have very little knowledge about it”.
Várhelyi also assessed that “meaningful economic development and investment plan for the region, to bring the region much faster much closer to Europe” should be brought to the negotiating table prior to Zagreb Summit.