21.01.2020
"Bulgaria consistently supports the efforts of the Western Balkan countries on their path to EU membership." This is what Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said during his speech at the Diplomatic Dialogue on the Western Balkans panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Bulgarian Prime Minister emphasized to the participants in the discussion the extreme importance of maintaining the EU enlargement policy as a catalyst for the implementation of key reforms in the region. "These reforms are needed both for the modernization and development of the Western Balkans and for the stability and prosperity of this strategically important EU region," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov noted.
According to him, the various initiatives and formats of regional cooperation in South-East Europe complement each other in promoting political, economic and social stability in the region. "However, regional cooperation is not an alternative to European integration of the Western Balkans. On the contrary, it should contribute to the achievement of the strategic goal of EU membership for the countries of the region," said Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
"Bulgaria, together with the Republic of North Macedonia, is hosting the Berlin process since January 1, 2020," Prime Minister Boyko Borissov also said in Davos. He added that our country has made this responsible commitment as a natural continuation of what has been achieved during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and of bringing to the fore the process of European integration of the Western Balkans on the political agenda of the Union.
"The priorities of the joint presidency of the Berlin Process are connectivity in all its aspects: transport, energy, digital, as well as connectivity between people, especially among young people, including through education," noted Prime Minister Borissov in Davos. He specified that one of the major projects to be implemented is to progress in the construction of the trans-European Corridor 8. It is of a crucial importance for the region and would set a good example for the connectivity between the Western Balkans and their neighboring EU Member States.
"We are certain that the future of the Western Balkan countries lies in the EU, as without them the European project is incomplete. The Croatian Presidency also plans to organize an EU-Western Balkans Summit and will keep the focus on the European perspective of the region on the EU agenda," emphasised Boyko Borissov.
In his speech, he outlined that, along with the Berlin Process in South-East Europe, there are other well-established and significant forms of regional cooperation, such as the South-East European Cooperation Process and the Regional Cooperation Council.
