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Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg has said that Russia is not just looking at Ukraine. He demanded the speedy opening of negotiations with Albania and the MoU and visa liberalization with Kosovo.
At a donors’ conference in Berlin (April 5) to help Moldova, a small country of just 2.6 million people that has so far hosted 370,000 refugees, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg also spoke about the Balkans. Western. Russia is not only looking at Ukraine, but also at the southern Caucasus, the Western Balkans, and the Republic of Moldova, the Austrian Foreign Minister has warned, writes the Reuters agency.
Schallenberg urged the EU to open membership negotiations with Albania and northern Macedonia as soon as possible. “I expect this to still be done under the French presidency,” Schallenberg said. But the French presidency ends in June.
View from the EU summit with the Western Balkans in Brdo, Slovenia 06.10.2021
Austrian Foreign Minister Schallenberg also demanded that visas be liberalized with Kosovo as soon as possible. Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina should also receive a membership perspective. It is a question of whether these six Western Balkan countries will remain on the European path of democracy and freedom or not, Schallenberg said, recalling the influence of Russia, China and other countries in the region.
The EU should not forget that previous membership processes have led to the strengthening of democratic developments in today’s member states, Schallenberg said. “Without EU membership, Eastern European countries today would probably be in an even more difficult situation,” Schallneberg said, referring to Russia.
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