EU Chief Warns of Balkan Wars If Bloc Neglects Accession Process
- EU should discuss ‘pre-accession’ for western Balkan countries
- First candidate won’t join before 2025, Juncker says
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The European Union should be serious about accession talks with western Balkan countries or risks reigniting hostilities at the site of the continent’s bloodiest conflict since World War II, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.
The bloc should consider “the idea of pre-accession” for candidate countries to give them hope and help them improve their economies before entry, Juncker said in a speech to Austrian lawmakers in Vienna on Friday. His comments preceded elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina and follow a referendum in the Republic of Macedonia to change the country’s name to end a dispute with Greece that may open the path to EU entry.