Jeremić: Balkans must seize opportunity

Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić says that the countries of the Western Balkans have not a second to waste now that the Irish have adopted the Lisbon Treaty.

After meeting with a number of foreign ministers in Budapest, Jeremić said that a summit of the European Union and Western Balkan countries was needed, and that Balkan countries must seize this moment and move ahead, through European integration.

“There are political differences between the countries of the Western Balkans, but what unites them is the common goal of a European future. We now have a chance to pass through very important doors, cross an important line, and that must be done as soon as possible before 2010,” the minister said.

“There can no longer be any more countries of the Western Balkans not on the road towards European integration, and there can no longer be any more countries not to have formally applied for EU membership, and I think that a consensus was reached on this issue during these meetings,” Jeremić concluded.