EU, Western Balkan foreign ministers to hold meeting in September

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) — EU foreign ministers will hold talks with their counterparts from the Western Balkans in September to "take stock" of recent developments in the region as the bloc prepares for enlargement, its top diplomat announced on Thursday.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell spoke to reporters after a two-day informal meeting of EU defense and foreign affairs ministers in Toledo, Spain, hosted by the Spanish government that assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1.

By the initiative of the Spanish EU presidency, the top diplomats will hold a joint meeting with their counterparts from the Western Balkans "at the end of next month," Borrell said.

He explained that the meeting would aim to "take a stock of what's happening in the Balkans," adding that "the issue of (EU) enlargement has been floating over" the discussions of EU foreign ministers.

His remarks came after European Council President Michel suggested on Monday that Western Balkan candidate countries and the EU should be ready for enlargement by 2030.

While acknowledging that enlargement is a "merit-based process," Borrell argued for the necessity to "fix the political target, a horizon" that can "give political impetus to the process."

He also announced that he will chair the next high-level meeting of dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo on Sept. 14. in Brussels.

Launched in 2011, the EU-facilitated mechanism aims to normalize relations between the two Balkan countries and to find a mutually agreeable solution to disputes within the framework of a legally binding agreement.

While Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are still considered "potential candidates," Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia have acquired the status of "candidate countries" over the years.