,,Bulgaria is the serious driver of the European integration of the countries of the Western Balkans'', said Vice President Iliyana Yotova to the participants in the international conference "Geopolitics and the Western Balkans: A Look from the Region", which took place in the capital of Montenegro Podgorica.

Ms. Yotova was the main spokesman for the forum.

    The Vice President was clear that without the Western Balkans, the EU can not be a world leader.

    In her view, the establishment of a permanent Balkan Security Forum will make these countries more active in shaping European policies and seeking allies.

    Yotova stressed that very important decisions for the negotiation process on the path of these countries to the EU are to be taken.

    ,,At the 2003 Thessaloniki summit, the European Union sent a strong message - the Western Balkan countries must be part of the union, she reminded. And that in 2018, during the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, our country has imposed the topic of the accession of the Western Balkans in the common foreign policy of the community. The EU-Western Balkans meeting in Sofia was a success, and Bulgaria, as a natural lobbyist for their European integration, has put the interests of these countries on a convincing agenda'', said Iliana Yotova.

   This meeting has made real bilateral agreements such as the Neighborhood Treaty between Bulgaria and Macedonia and the Prespa Treaty between Northern Macedonia and Greece, which opened the way for the EU and NATO, added the vice president.

    But Europe was not ready for this meeting because of the lack of a political solution and a consensus on the enlargement of the Union, she said.

    According to Yotova, the need for reforms is evident - from the way institutions work, through decision-making, to the specific content of policies. ,,However, changes in the EU are undergoing a convincing vision for enlargement'', she said.

    The vice president was clear that the membership criteria must be met, but double standards, EU division of axes, center and periphery are unacceptable.

    Yotova warned that the demographic crisis caused by internal migration would soon become one of the biggest problems for the future development of the Western Balkans. Successful EU accession would greatly restrict the "export" of active people to other member states, she said.

  
    Our country's Ambassador to Montenegro Meglena Plugchieva stressed that the future of the countries in the region is the European integration and there is no B plan here, and the expectations are related to the new EC.

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