Siljanovska-Davkova Set from Tirana: Integration of the region is urgent geopolitical and security imperative for the EU

President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova addresses the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the participants of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) in Tirana and pointed out that in conditions of dramatic geopolitical changes, with less multilateralism and more multilateralism and more multilateralism, Union.

She emphasized that the responsibility of the member states of the region that should be the drivers of enlargement is particularly important, not the source of blockades that undermine the credibility of the Union.

Indicating that regional co -operation should be promoted and focusing on key problems – from the outflow of brains to climate change, the president said the region must be proactively supported so as not to be reduced to geopolitical and geoeconomic periphery.

Siljanovska-Davkova added that we need improved infrastructure, energy and digital connection so that the region is more competitive for the wider European and global market.

Referring to the regional solidarity expressed through the unselfish care of the injured in the tragic fire in Kocani, she noted that with the opening of health institutions for the injured Macedonian citizens, as well as with the activation of the European civil protection mechanism, a sincere friendship, neighboring and humanity.

She pointed out that the path of the European future is leading through cooperation and solidarity, but stressed that that path is not without interference: a serious obstacle stems from the old prejudice in some European centers that still see the Balkans as an unstable periphery, made up of states stuck in conflicts, self -blocking.

Noting that an even more serious obstacle is the bilateralization of the integration process of the Balkan neighbors themselves, through abuse of veto, identity conditions and historical revisionism, she assessed: These actions not only slow down the European integration process, but also reinforce stereotypes of Europe.

Emphasizing that candidates for membership, instead of solidarity and a fair process, are increasingly facing obstructions due to bilateral issues, the president said that instead of Europeanisation in the Balkans – we are witnessing a dangerous trend in the European Union’s Balkanization and noted that this must be changed for all.