Schallenberg demands: – Accession negotiations with Bosnia by the end of the year

This demand stems from a joint letter between the Austrian minister and his Slovenian counterpart, Tanja Fajon, and Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Radman Grlić. In the European Union, the ‘appetite for expansion’ has diminished over the past twenty years. At the same time, some countries in the Western Balkans have shown little political will to implement urgent EU reforms.

Serbia is not mentioned in the letters
Negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia should also make progress. With regard to Montenegro, the three foreign ministers write that the country must continue on the path of EU reforms, which first require the formation of a new government. The country elected a new parliament in June. Serbia, with which the EU is already negotiating, is not mentioned in the letter.

Enlargement is high on the agenda on Friday during the informal EU summit in Granada, Spain. The governments of Vienna, Ljubljana and Zagreb also want a “less complex” and “result-oriented” enlargement process. Ministers from the Western Balkans countries should be invited more often to EU Foreign Ministers’ Councils. Opportunities for gradual integration into the EU are also seen in other policy areas, such as education, science, transport and trade.

Kosovo is not recognized by all EU countries
The EU is currently conducting accession negotiations with four Western Balkan countries: Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia. Bosnia and Herzegovina currently only has the status of a candidate country. The least advanced country in EU integration is Kosovo, which is not recognized as a separate state by five EU members.