The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, has clarified this 2030 as the year in which the next major enlargement of the European Union is to take placeincluding the accession of Ukraine and six other Balkan countries that already have candidate status. “It’s time to let go of ambiguity and face challenges with clarity and honesty.”added Michel, who stressed that in order to strengthen the EU “it is time to face the challenge of enlargement”.
In the knowledge that the “slowness” of the way towards the EU is given “Many disappointed”Both in the Balkans and within the EU itself, Michel paraphrased German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stress that the Union must deliver on its promises.
The EU accuses Russia of its actions
The President-in-Office also referred to the Kremlin’s attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty to remind us of that Russia didn’t just attack a neighborbut on “everything” in which the EU believes and has defended and appealed to put the lessons learned into practice and to act now with the same “decision” that was already made to react to the start of the war or the COVID pandemic to respond -19.
“Enlargement is no longer a dream, It’s time to move on”has encouraged Michel, who, however, has recognized that “there is still a lot to do” and that it will be “difficult, complex and sometimes painful” but necessary to be “credible”.
In this sense, he pointed out that when preparing the next strategic agenda, both parties must set the same goal: “We must be prepared for enlargement in 2030”. A goal that implies that the next long-term EU budget must include a “common” target that Michel hopes will encourage the EU and Balkan candidate countries to achieve. “Act Better Together”.
As the President of the European Council has advanced, the negotiations on EU enlargement and the timetable he proposed this Tuesday will be discussed at the next summit scheduled for October 26th and 27th in Brussels and by which he hopes this is the case for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia “Go back to the table”.