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The Balkan leaders criticized the objective of the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, for the year 2030 as the deadline for the enlargement of the European Union.
EU candidate countries accused Brussels institutions of shifting targets and expressed a number of concerns with Michel's timeline.
Speaking at a forum in Bled, Slovenia, on Monday, the Council chief indicated that the EU should be ready to accept new members in 2030, in a bid to revive the EU enlargement debate.
But his words were met with dismay by Western Balkan leaders and the European Commission, which refused to back the target.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama expressed doubts that his country will be ready to join by 2030 – but he blamed Brussels for that.
"There should not only be reforms and criticism that are necessary, but also the most consequential support and I am not talking only from a financial point of view, but also the access to the market of our enterprises", said the Albanian leader, underlining that the EU has remained behind the US and China in its financial support for infrastructure in the region.
Several Balkan countries have been EU candidate countries for years, prompting concerns in the region that Brussels does not want them to join the club. But Russia's war in Ukraine has revived the debate over enlargement, which will be discussed by EU leaders at an informal meeting in Spain in October.
Speaking in Bled, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic accused the EU of shifting the pillars and dragging its feet on EU enlargement.
"The first reason is that the process takes so long and there is no end in sight. The second is that the criteria or what you have to do to progress is constantly changing,” she said.
Even her Montenegrin counterpart Dritan Abazovic criticized the EU for not keeping its promises in the Balkans.
"It's not fair that we're asked to do something, and then after we do it, they say, 'That's good, but now's not the time for something,'" he said.
"2030 is too far for us," added Abazovic, referring to Michel's target./ Politico.eu
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