Ambassadors of all 28 EU member states, including Spain, approved a draft declaration that should be accepted at the summit EU – Western Balkans in Sofia, Tanjug learns in Brussels.
“The draft of the Declaration was approved by the ambassador of Spain to the EU, and it is up to the member states to accept it,” Bulgaria’s Permanent Representative to the EU Genoveva Cervenakova told Tanjug.
The Spanish daily El Pais published yesterday, referring to unnamed sources that Spain vetoed the document, because, as they said, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy did not want his signature to be on the declaration together with the signature of the representatives of Kosovo, which Spain did not recognize.
Cervenakova, however, denies that information and adds:
“The ambassadors approved the draft Declaration. The text has now been sent to the Western Balkan countries for consultations,” Tanjug was told in the Bulgarian EU Presidency.
Permanent representatives of all 28 EU member states received a draft declaration at a meeting last Thursday in Brussels.
According to diplomatic sources in Brussels, due to the opposition of Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy about his signature not to be on the Declaration together with the signature of the representatives of Kosovo, a compromise solution was reached, that is, the Declaration will be adopted only by the 28 member states, not in the format of 28 + 6 partners from the Western Balkans.
Diplomatic sources in Brussels confirmed also to Tanjug that the draft text of the declaration was forwarded to the countries of the Western Balkans for a “review”.
According to Tanjug, the draft of the Sophia Declaration does not refer to the “countries” of the Western Balkans, but are referred to as “partners”, which is seen as another step towards compromise with EU countries that do not support the independence of Kosovo.
Diplomatic sources in Brussels say it is not yet certain whether Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will attend the EU Western Balkans summit itself.
Unofficial information suggests that Rajoy’s participation at the summit was conditioned by the placement of the representatives of Kosovo to the side-lines, who at the summit, according to Spain’s position, should not be allowed to take the floor or sit at the same table with other leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans.
