The European Union is looking for a way to accept new members faster

The European Union is looking for ways to speed up the accession of the Western Balkan countries to the bloc. The issue is planned to be discussed at an upcoming summit with the participation of European leaders and representatives of candidate countries.

This was stated by the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, AP reports .

According to him, the EU understands that the enlargement process has been delayed, so they want to find mechanisms that will allow countries that have been waiting for a decision from Brussels for many years to move faster towards membership.

“Enlargement is not a utopia, but something that can become a reality in the coming years,” Costa said.

These are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro. All of them have long declared their intention to join the European Union, but negotiations and fulfillment of the necessary conditions have been going on for years.

There has been increased talk in Brussels recently about Balkan integration. One of the reasons cited is the growing influence of Russia and China in the region, which the EU considers strategically important.

To become members of the European Union, candidate countries must undertake major reforms and bring their legislation into line with European standards. Each stage of the negotiations must be agreed upon by all 27 EU member states.

Montenegro and Albania are currently the most advanced in the negotiations. At the same time, for Serbia and Kosovo, one of the main conditions remains the normalization of relations between the countries.

Let us remind you that Ukraine and the European Union may open two negotiation clusters as soon as June as part of the EU accession process.

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