Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission (EC), said in Brussels on Wednesday that there was a high risk of the restoration of the 1990s if the Western Balkans countries did not have a perspective of joining the European Union, the FoNet news agency reported.

Speaking after talks with the Slovenian President Borut Pahor, Juncker said the Western Balkans’ chances of joining the bloc had to be real, adding he believed “it was the question of war or peace.”

He referred to the 1991-1995 wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and the armed conflict in Kosovo in 1998 and 1999.

On the brighter side, Juncker spoke about the Three Seas Initiative’s meeting in Ljubljana in June which he said he strongly supported.

The Initiative aims at strengthening the trade, infrastructural, energy and political cooperation on the territories surrounded by the Adriatic, Baltic and Black seas.

The Initiative gathers 12 EU countries: Croatia, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Slovenia and Austria.

See at: http://rs.n1info.com/English/NEWS/a462127/If-Balkans-don-t-join-EU-1990s-may-return.html