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Slovenian Foreign Minister at a forum in Austria for accelerated EU enlargement

by AI | 21.Jun 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon advocated for the accelerated expansion of the EU to the Western Balkans at the ministerial forum in Austria.

Slovenian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon. Photo: Daniel Novaković/STA

Danube – Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon attended the Wachau Ministerial Forum in Austria today, where she emphasized that the enlargement of the EU to the Western Balkans is a now-or-never issue. She warned against the strengthening influence of other world powers in the region.

“The group of friends of the Western Balkans is a good proof that we must treat enlargement as a geostrategic necessity that needs political support. It is now or never,” Fajon said, among other things. She believed that both the EU and the Western Balkan countries must do everything to achieve enlargement as soon as possible.

“The fact is that the Western Balkans is in the heart of Europe, and this must also become a political reality. The alternative – if we are not determined and swift enough – is increased influence from other countries, which are already rapidly asserting their interests in the region,” the foreign minister said on the sidelines of the meeting.

The meeting, hosted by Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg, was attended by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell, foreign ministers from Albania, BiH, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Greece, Croatia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and a representative of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (June 21)