Schallenberg:

“EU is not complete without the Western Balkans”

Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg

(Bild: ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Their goal is an accelerated and gradual integration of the Western Balkan states into the EU. The "Friends of the Western Balkans" met in Rome on Monday. On the sidelines of the meeting, Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg stated: "The EU is not complete without these states."

At the same time, according to Schallenberg: "Sooner or later, the problems of the Balkans will also be our problems, be it in the area of security, migration or organized crime. That's why the stability and security of the region is so important to me."

The initiative launched by Schallenberg is also welcomed by the EU Commission. "Either we export our way of life, our economic model, our rule of law, or we run the risk of importing instability because other, autocratic forces are suddenly the dominant force," explained Schallenberg on Monday.

Long list of participants
In addition to Schallenberg, the foreign ministers of Greece, Croatia, Slovakia, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia also took part in Monday's meeting, which was chaired by Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. The Deputy Foreign Ministers of Slovenia and the Czech Republic were also present.