The enlargement of the European Union should be based on clear principles, taking into account each country's own merits in the integration process. Compliance with this principle is a guarantee of maintaining stability and security in Europe. This was summarized by President Rumen Radev at a meeting with the Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy of the European Union, Oliver Varhei. He landed in our country on a working visit.
„The European integration of the Western Balkans has no alternative
and the progress of the countries of the region should not fall out of the focus of the European institutions", the head of state said.
Radev expressed an expectation that after the end of the election campaign in the Republic of North Macedonia and the holding of the elections there, the political situation in our south-western neighbor will enable the full implementation of the European decision from July 2022, which is an unavoidable element on Skopje's path to EU.
„Statements by leading political figures in the RSM, made during the campaign of a provocative nature, do not help to strengthen the dialogue between our two countries,' the Bulgarian head of state emphasized. The President added that good neighborliness is a major aspect in the expansion process and emphasized the readiness of our country, regardless of the negative messages from Skopje, to renew efforts for constructive bilateral cooperation.
Radev expressed his appreciation for the fruitful dialogue and the efforts made by Commissioner Varhei to develop the process of European integration.
The two discussed the prospects for the enlargement process in both the Western Balkans and Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia.
Noting the differences in the geopolitical context in which the individual candidate countries find themselves, the two emphasized that each country's EU accession is based on its own merits based on the fulfillment of clear and unambiguous criteria and conditions that are well known to all countries.
President Radev and Commissioner Varhei also discussed the options for future EU reform, including changes to decision-making mechanisms in the Council of the EU. The Bulgarian head of state stated that on the topic of enlargement, our country categorically supports the preservation of the principle of unanimity.