Western Balkans is a part of the Europe’s body but is seems like it is currently isolated from the rest of this body, which is something that does not make sense. That is how Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama describes the current relation between Western Balkans and the European Union.
Rama gave last week an interview to the Spanish RTVE, which aired on Saturday, only a few days after the EU leaders meeting in Slovenia failed to give a timeframe for the accession into EU for any of the region’s countries.
Asked about the Russian and Chinese influences in the region, given lack of progress in its European integration efforts, Rama stated that such risks are real, and that EU should not ignore them.
“It’s not feasible for the security and the future of Europe that [Western Balkans] to be not fully integrated, to leave it as a grey zone where other actors can have their play,” said Rama.
However, Rama singled out Albania by downplaying outside influences in the country. “With regard to Albania, these influences are of no concern, because for us Europe is our religion and our future in the EU is our free choice… In Albania, we all agree on one thing: the future of our children, and that of our children’s children, is in Europe. Not in China. Not in Russia,” assured Rama.
The six Western Balkan countries are at different stages of the integration efforts. Montenegro and Serbia are negotiating for years their membership into the EU, Albania and North Macedonia are recognized as candidate countries but membership talks are yet to start, while Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina have not gained yet the candidate status.
