The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, called for the year 2030 to be set as the deadline when the European Union and the candidate countries are ready for enlargement. During the speech at the Bled Strategic Forum, he repeated several times that from now on the candidate countries should be referred to as “future EU member countries”.
Michel said that the EU must face the dilemma of whether it will be only a union that deals with crisis management or an actor that decides on the future. He admitted that the long road of the Western Balkan states towards the EU, which started more than 20 years ago, has caused disappointment to many people, both in the region and in the European bloc.

“I agree with the chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, when he says that the EU must keep its promises,” added Michel. This time, the president of the European Council also called for setting a clear agenda with deadlines.
“At the time when we are preparing the future agenda of the EU, we must also set clear goals before ourselves. I believe that we should be ready, from both sides, to expand in 2030.

This means that the next multi-year budget should also include these goals of ours. This is very ambitious, but necessary. It shows that we are serious. It will create momentum,” he said.
Michel warned that at the next EU summit the leaders will also discuss the enlargement process. But, from the topics within the framework of enlargement, he only mentioned the possibility of opening membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, as well as the return of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the agenda.

/k.s/