Albania may ‘negotiate EU membership’ by June, as Tusk warns against ‘Game of Thrones’ in Balkans

Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva has stated that it is time for the Balkans to make a comeback to the European Union agenda.

She said Bulgaria expects Montenegro and Serbia to continue to open new membership chapters, while underlining that Albania and Macedonia have a chance to negotiate membership during Bulgaria’s presidency, namely within June.

But, however, she added that there will be no progress in the integration process if these countries do not advance with their reforms.

EU chief Donald Tusk, attending the event, warned in an emotional speech against having a “game of thrones” in the Western Balkans, as Brussels seeks to encourage the region’s efforts to reform, leave behind ethnic hostilities and join the bloc.

The European Union is using Bulgaria’s six-month presidency to try to counter the influence of Russia, Turkey and other countries in its troubled backyard, which has largely fallen off the bloc’s radar in recent years.

For its part, Bulgaria is trying to revive the European perspective of the impoverished but important geostrategic region.

Speaking in Bulgarian at a presidency launch ceremony in Sofia, European Council President Tusk, a former Polish prime minister, compared the history of the region to the fantasy swords-and-sex television drama Game of Thrones.

“The history of the Balkans is more dramatic and interesting than the screenplay of ‘Game of Thrones’, even if there are no dragons in it. We would all like it if the present and future of the Balkans were less like dramatic screenplays,” Tusk said in the speech, which combined poetry, humour and historical anecdotes.

“Stability, security, prosperity — this is what the people of the whole region deserve. And the EU’s purpose is to help make this screenplay a reality,” Tusk added.

SCAN

*Material i përgatitur nga portali SCAN. Ripublikimi mund të bëhet vetëm kundrejt citimit të autorësisë dhe burimit origjinal.