“European integration and transatlantic cooperation must not be isolated in the Western Balkans. It is time to focus on the Western Balkans’ EU membership process, before it is too late. This is the center of gravity for the future of the region. The European perspective is the impetus that makes the cooperation process beneficial for all and for a long time. Our region is not perfect, but we can get the best out of it, “said Regional Co-operation Council (RCC) Secretary General Majlinda Bregu at the opening of the event “Don’t stay disconnected: Designing a roadmap for the EU and the Western Balkans”, co-organized by the Munich Security Conference (MCS) in Munich.”
 
“The region’s potential for development can only be achieved through regional economic integration. This is the main goal of the Regional Common Market (CRM) agenda coordinated by the RCC. The delays or obstacles encountered in this process were for political and not technical reasons. Regional economic integration is not an independent process. It will remain fragmented if it does not become part of the common path towards EU membership, as well as involvement in the EU’s common policies and market. The EU has every opportunity to be the main influential actor in the region. “This is because more than 62% of the citizens of the Western Balkans support the EU and moreover in the first place /” pole position “as the largest investor”, added Bregu.
 
The event brought together senior officials from the region and the EU: Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov; The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski; Prime Minister of Kosovo *, Albin Kurti; The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania, Olta Xhacka; Croatian Foreign Minister Goran Grlic Radman; Slovenian Foreign Minister Anze Logar; German Minister of State Tobias Lindner; EEAS Secretary General Stefano Sannino; Chairman of the MSC, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger; EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Miroslav Lajcak; U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen; Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Naz Durakoglu; and other senior officials from the WB, the EU and the US Congress. The event was moderated by Majda Ruge, Senior Expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
 
“The European integration of the Western Balkans is not only a territorial agenda, but also a transformative one. We all agree that enlargement is not a methodological process, but a political one and should continue to be so. Now is the time to act. If this opportunity is missed, the Western Balkans risk another lost decade marked by new instabilities. “If skilled and educated young people do not see a European perspective at home, they will choose the opportunities to emigrate and find better living conditions in the EU,” concluded RCC Secretary General Bregu.
 
The RCC Secretary General had several bilateral meetings, on the sidelines of the MSC, with German Minister of State Anna Luhrmann; Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, Kunio Mikuriya; and the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski.

/Klara Ruci/