Greece to propose date for Western Balkans’ EU accession

Greece will propose 2018 as a target EU entry date for the Western Balkans countries, Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said on Monday (November 22nd) at a seminar in Brussels. He added that the EU could adopt a political declaration to clearly state its commitment to integrate Southeast Europe. Droutsas said Greece will try to summon support for this proposal and hopes to do it in 2014, when it takes over the rotating EU presidency. He insisted the current situation, in which the EU refuses to specify timeframes in for integration of new members, discourages reform efforts.