German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Slovenian counterpart Tanja Fajon want to work together to boost the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union, they said at talks in Ljubljana on Tuesday, writes German news agency DPA.
“It is our common goal to promote the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the EU,” Baerbock said.
Both politicians emphasized that Russia’s war against Ukraine had made this enlargement a “geopolitical” necessity.
The Western Balkan countries include Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. All six countries are endeavouring to join the EU, but are at different stages in the process.
Due to growing nationalist propaganda, Berlin is looking ahead to the parliamentary elections in Serbia on December 17, Baerbock said. She added that “the lack of equal media access for all political candidates in the past is a particular cause for concern.”
