Jioros Gerapetritis is in Slovakia for the Ministerial Meeting<\/b> of the “Friends of the Western Balkans”.<\/p>\n
“The issue of the accession process for the Western Balkans<\/b> has been of particular concern recently to both the Europe<\/b>, as well as Greece<\/b>,” said the Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis<\/b> in a statement on the sidelines of his participation in the Ministerial Meeting<\/b> of the “Friends of the Western Balkans Group”, which is taking place today in Bratislava<\/b>.<\/p>\n
As he said, “the accession perspective of the Western Balkans<\/b> is of vital importance<\/b> both for the peoples of the Western Balkans and for the European Union<\/b>, a larger, stronger and more resilient European Union, which will include all peoples, especially the Western Balkans, which have a history of hardship,<\/b>a history of nationalism, wars, conflicts.”<\/p>\n
“It is extremely important to be able to encourage this process<\/b>, within the framework, of course, of the criteria set by the law of the European Union itself:respect for the European acquis, absolute respect for international law and good neighbourly relations. Greece has taken an extensive initiative. It is the country which is pushing ahead<\/b> with the accession of the Western Balkans. The Delphi Declaration<\/b> has already been signed,” he said.<\/p>\n
Greece, he added, is the country which is encouraging the integration of the Western Balkans.<\/b><\/p>\n
“It is the immediate neighbour, the country which is the oldest country in the region in the European Union<\/b>. We believe that it is extremely critical<\/b> and important for Greece to be present<\/b> in this discussion,” he stressed.<\/p>\n
“It is important that the European Union<\/b> becomes, under conditions of many and difficult challenges, a real union<\/b> of all the peoples of Europe.”<\/p>\n
In the context of Greece’s leading role<\/b> in the pre-accession process of the Western Balkan countries, he noted how Greece will undertake a series of initiatives<\/b>, which include the visit<\/b> of the Foreign Minister to the Western Balkan countries, as well as the hosting by Greece of the next meeting of the “Friends of the Western Balkans<\/b>“.<\/p>\n
“It is the next period, the next few months, extremely crucial<\/b>, in view of the assumption by Greece of the presidency of the Council of the European Union<\/b>, in the second half of 2027, a period during which we are convinced that the discussion<\/b> on the accession of the Western Balkans can be substantially advanced and we can move forward after 13 years<\/b> to the accession of the first member state from the Western Balkans,” he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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