Executive Director at the European Fund for the Balkans Hedvig Morvai stresses that 2025 should be forgotten as a date for the Western Balkans to enter the EU.

Morvai pointed out that this should be done because it is impossible to achieve the goal by that time, and that it is not motivating.

Also, according to her, the region is not doing its part, while the EU is not ready to change its approach to the region, because it faces difficult challenges itself.

She emphasized the importance of regional cooperation and said that this is a tool for the development of the region, and not an end in itself.

"Regional cooperation should be used to solve some of the difficult issues," Morvai said.

She assessed that at the beginning of the year there were some positive steps in the region, on the EU side as well, "but we are now back where we used to be once again."