Page 44 - bne_newspaper_February_02_2018

44 I Southeast Europe bne February 2018
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EU prepares to set 2025 as deadline for new wave of enlargement
Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje
The European Union is preparing to set 2025 as a deadline for the next wave of enlargement, even though disputes within the Balkans could hold things back, a draft document obtained by EUobserver revealed.
The document will make clear that the EU will accept new members, which is a shift in tone since European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said in 2014 there would be no EU enlargement in the foreseeable future.
All six Western Balkans countries are aspiring EU members, but are at differ- ent stages of the enlargement process. "The Western Balkans partners now have a historic window of opportunity.
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For the first time, their accession perspective has a best-case timeframe," EUobserver said quoting a draft
disputes with neighbours, Montenegro and Serbia should be ready for member- ship by 2025."
“All six Western Balkans countries are aspiring EU members, but are at different stages of the enlargement process”
internal document from the European Commission, which is due to be published on February 14.
The text further reads that "with strong political will, the delivery of real reforms, and lasting solutions to
Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herze- govina and Kosovo "should also be well advanced on their European path by then", or their "negotiations ... should be well advanced," it said.
Only Serbia and Montenegro have