“I wish Bulgaria was a real generator of ideas connecting the Western Balkans with the EU, but it lost the huge energy it had during the Bulgarian Presidency.” This was said for Radio Focus by Ilhan Kyuchyuk, who is the EP’s permanent rapporteur for the Republic of North Macedonia.
His comment was sought on the occasion of the Berlin Summit, which took place yesterday. Kyuchyuk described it as a good initiative on the European Commission’s agenda. The MEP believes that the Western Balkans need to be included in EU policies much earlier and highlighted the two major upcoming changes not only in Europe but also globally – the digital revolution and green policies. Kyuchyuk noted that the format of the Berlin Process itself aims to address three main issues:
“The first is to speed up mutual dialogue, the so-called neighborhood policy, to allow countries that have certain bilateral differences to be cleared. The second goal of the Berlin Process is to provide security. This is a platform that should provide. The third perspective is the early involvement of the countries of the Western Balkans in the policies of the union itself” , he said.
Ilhan Kyuchyuk explained that he hoped that both yesterday’s meeting in Sofia and the upcoming meeting at 17 would come up with a firm political conclusion and that Bulgaria would be a leading country.
“I wanted our country to be much more proactive in order to promote the region and not to give the impression that everything is going well, it is orderly and bureaucratic and comes from Brussels”, added the MEP from “Renew Europe”.
Meanwhile, Kyuchyuk commented that, as far as the Western Balkans are concerned, it is as if we are playing tango – one forward, two backwards or backwards – and said that this is not always a good solution at European level.
“Including us, our diplomacy, we must not look at one country or another simply as a country or a territory, but address it with a sense and a greater sense of the inclusion of civil societies, of these countries, because the EU has not It is a project of individual states, it is not a project of nations, it is a project of citizenship, so the topics will be set in the future conference on the Western Balkans, and I am very insistent that they should be included not just as a part but as an integral part. participating in all debates”, he explained.
According to the MEP, the key to the rapprochement of the peoples of Bulgaria and North Macedonia is in dialogue.
Тази публикация е достъпна и на следните езици: Bulgarian