The Prime Minister of Slovenia Janez Janša held a press conference after his address to the MEPs on 06.07. in Strasbourg and stressed that progress in the process of enlarging the Community with Northern Macedonia is possible in October, if the member states agree, the Albanian-language Skopje-based TV channel Alsat-M reports.
Jansa acknowledged that he did not understand EU member states opposing enlargement, but stressed that a debate on the issue was needed.
. “In Europe, there is a dilemma whether enlargement is of strategic importance or not,” said the Slovenian prime minister, recalling that in the last 15 years the EU has not only not expanded, but also lost one of its members – Britain.
Meanwhile, Jansa added, other forces are influencing the Western Balkans region. “The EU spends too much time reacting tactically to the consequences created by others, the EU is a great idea and we want other countries to join, we are doing everything we can to help them,” said Jansa, whose country took the helm of the EU. on July 1.
For Slovenia, enlargement will be a top priority during the presidency, the prime minister added.
The EP wants Bulgaria‘s immediate accession to Schengen. The European Commission also came up with a position last month that the two countries should become part of the Schengen area. The final decision on this must be taken by the EU Member States.