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W.Balkans:Juncker warns to solve border disputes to join EU

European Commission President says 2025 is "indicative date"

06 February, 15:55
(ANSA) - BRUXELLES, 06 FEB - None of the six countries of the Western Balkans will be able to join the European Union "until they have resolved all border disputes" with their neighbors, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, warned a few hours before the publication of the EU enlargement strategy to the Western Balkans.

"There can be no further accession for Western Balkans countries without bilateral border disputes having first been resolved", Juncker pointed out. He spoke right after a speech to the European Parliament by Croatia's Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic. Croatia and Slovenia - both EU members - are stuck in a border dispute stemming from the breakup of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Serbia and Montenegro, considered by Brussels as 'frontrunners' to join the Union, "may be able to join in 2025", the President of the EU Commission highlighted, but "we are not saying that the Western Balkans have to join by 2025". "This is an indicative date, a perspective to motivate countries to continue reforms and work hard to follow that path," Juncker added.(ANSA).

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