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BRUSSELS – Alignment with EU values, beginning with the rule of legislation and with the frequent international and safety coverage, is an important indicator of the strategic orientation of candidate international locations on their option to the Union, mentioned the primary European diplomat Josep Borrell on Wednesday.
“Alignment with EU values, beginning with the rule of legislation, and with the frequent international and safety coverage, is an important indicator of strategic orientation within the new geopolitical context,” mentioned the EU’s excessive consultant for international and safety coverage Josep Borrell.
Borrell, along with enlargement commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, offered this yr’s enlargement bundle which incorporates progress studies on 10 candidate and potential candidate international locations.
Serbia is the one one which has not totally aligned with the EU’s international and safety coverage, and the report states that this nation has not imposed sanctions on Russia, has maintained high-level relations with that nation, and has intensified relations with China, “which raises questions on its strategic path.”
Borrell says that Serbia’s membership within the EU is “the one sustainable option to construct long-term prosperity.”
“We insist that Serbia align with our international and safety coverage, of which restrictive measures in opposition to Russia are an vital half, and I believe Serbia will align ultimately, in any other case membership could also be in query,” Borrell mentioned.
Montenegro has gone the furthest within the negotiations, having opened all chapters. In June of this yr, the Fee assessed that the nation had met short-term benchmarks within the first basic cluster regarding justice and basic rights, thereby opening the likelihood for the beginning of the second section of negotiations, the closing of chapters.
At this second, Montenegro is technically prepared to shut 4 chapters.
The report states that bilateral relations with Montenegro are deteriorating resulting from tensions arising, amongst different issues, from unresolved bilateral points.
It’s said that there was no progress relating to the unresolved border demarcation between the 2 states or possession of the ship “Jadran,” and that the adoption of a decision within the Montenegrin parliament specializing in historic occasions in Jasenovac, Mauthausen, and Dachau has triggered a robust diplomatic response from Croatia, together with declaring three Montenegrin officers personae non gratae.
For Bosnia and Herzegovina, which opened negotiations with the EU in March however remains to be ready to open the primary negotiating cluster, the Fee states that it has achieved tangible ends in managing migrations, is totally aligned with the EU’s frequent international and safety coverage, and has adopted legal guidelines on the integrity of the judiciary, cash laundering, and battle of curiosity.
The Fee is making ready a draft negotiating framework, a key doc on the premise of which negotiations are carried out, which is the primary prerequisite for the beginning of concrete negotiations. (October 30, 2024)
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