"We will never again have the accession into the EU of a country that has not resolved its problems before it joins," or, put differently, "nobody will be allowed to import into the EU problems of bilateral nature that are unresolved," European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas underlined at the ABNA-SE conference in Thessalonki, during a discussion on the course of the Western Balkans toward Europe.
What happened many times in the past was the Balkanisation of Europe, whereas now was the time for the Europeanisation of the Balkans, said Schinas.
"The Europeanisation of the Balkans has not yet been achieved but I am certain that is happening now," he noted, adding that there are reasons that prove this process is irreversible.
Honorary Ambassador Alexandros Mallias noted that the "the process of healing wounds has not yet been completed in the Western Balkans," and that "ideas with secessionist tendencies have once again come to the surface, such as the secession of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia, the breaking up of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the change of the map in Kosovo. History tell us that the change of borders may have an unpredictable outcome, it may open Pandora's box and this may mean the forced exchange of populations and such plans for exchanges of territories and populations should be definitively ruled out," he said.
The general director of the Bosnia-Herzegovina news agency (FENA) Elmir Huremovic focused on the expectations of the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina from the recent granting of candidate status for EU accession, adding that they are happy about the development but also aware that candidate status does not guarantee anything.