site.btaSiljanovska from Tirana: Bilateralization Slows European Integration, Reinforces Stereotypes

North Macedonia’s President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova said in the Albanian capital Tirana on Monday that integration is a pressing geopolitical imperative and is important for EU security. She made the remark in a speech at the Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the South-East European Cooperation Process, as quoted by her office.

Siljanovska said the path to the European future lies through cooperation and solidarity, but it is not without obstacles. One major hurdle, according to her, are the old prejudices in some European centres, which still see the Balkans as an unstable periphery of countries embroiled in conflicts, self-imposed blockades and mutual sabotage.

The President stressed that the bilateralization of the integration process by neighbouring Balkan countries which abuse their right to veto, raise conditions about identity and engage in historical revisionism, presents an even greater stumbling-block. It slows the process of European integration and reinforces the stereotype that the Balkans are not ready for Europe, she said.

Siljanovska said that the EU member states in the Balkans have a particularly high responsibility because they ought to be drivers of EU enlargement rather than initiators of blockades which undermine trust in the EU.

She called for better regional cooperation in the Balkans, with a focus on key issues, from the brain drain to climate change. She believes that the region should be supported pro-actively if it is to be more than just a geopolitical and geoeconomic periphery.