Eurasia Press & News
Spanish FM Miguel Angel Moratinos said in Vienna on Tuesday that Serbia is a crucial country in the West Balkan region.
He added that Madrid supports its request for receiving the candidate status for EU accession.
In his address to the Permanent Council of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Moratinos said that the European perspective of the western Balkans is very important and that all regional countries should head in the direction of the EU.
All western Balkan countries are on their way towards the EU and Spain supports them in that path, Moratinos pointed out.
Serbia is the crucial country in the region and Spain, as the one currently presiding over the EU, is pleased about the submitting of the request for receiving the candidate status, he stressed.
When it comes to Croatia, Moratinos expressed hope that there will be some progress in the following months, so that negotiations with that country could be completed in 2010.
According to Moratinos, it is important that all the West Balkan countries that tend to join the EU fulfill the necessary conditions, and Spain intends to support them in it.
Moratinos stressed that the Corfu dialogue on European security should be used as a possibility, as this process reactivated the role of OSCE and it offers a strategic perspective.
The Corfu process showed that security in Europe has a global and indivisible character, Moratinos underscored.
