Western Balkans countries seek more EU pre-accession funds

EU aspirants Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia adopted a common stance regarding pre-accession assistance Monday (April 4th). Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said after a meeting of the national IPA pre-accession assistance co-ordinators in Belgrade that the EU applicants will offer Brussels full scrutiny of their annual budget plans in exchange for an EU guarantee on new loans. The five countries agreed to ask for more IPA funding prior the membership which would allow them accelerate EU-related reforms. In exchange, post-accession assistance would decrease.