The German Government expressed reservations with regards to the new effort of the Council of Europe (CoE), to present on Tuesday in Strasbourg the new Strategy for Western Balkans. The EU Commissioner for enlargement, Johannes Hahn will present the Strategy which foresees Serbia’s and Montenegro’s EU membership by 2025. According to the strategy, these two countries are offered clear perspective if they complete the required reforms and resolve their problems with neighboring countries.
The Spokesperson of the German Government, Steffen Seibert, told German news agency DPA that “it is clear that these candidates have yet to make extensive reforms in their countries.” He added that there will be no automatic memberships, due to the dates set ahead.
The German Government however considers the European perspective for Balkan countries to be very important. However, according to Seibert, the CoE Strategy for Western Balkans has to be studied thoroughly once presented on Tuesday. The Commission is also expected to assess memberships perspective of Albania, Kosovo, FYROM and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
