Speaking in today’s seminar - organising by the S&D Group in the European Parliament - with social democrats leaders of parliamentary groups and civil society representatives from the Western Balkans, Gianni Pittella, president of the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament, said:
"Today's meeting with progressive political leaders and civil society representatives from the Western Balkans clearly shows our commitment to the EU's enlargement policy and to the European perspectives of all these countries.
"We have to interact better and work together in order to face both enlargement and the refugee crisis, rejecting the idea of a European fortress.
"The refugee crisis provides us with the opportunity to put our values into practice and show philanthropy and humanity to refugees, as well as solidarity towards the countries that provide shelter to the refugees and vulnerable migrants.
"Western Balkan countries, particularly Serbia and FYROM, are under enormous pressure from the current crisis and they reacted well; much better than some EU member states."
S&D vice-chair responsible for foreign affairs, Knut Fleckenstein, added:
"The S&Ds fully support EU enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans and considers enlargement a tool to build stable societies based on democratic values.
"We played a key role in setting up the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II) legislative structure for the financial period 2014-2020 as we had the Rapporteurship. Our members negotiated the IPA II with the Council and the Commission the IPA II which will have € 11.7 billion for the next financial period. We made sure pre-accession spending will be more efficient and with greater democratic scrutiny.
"We want to keep the Western Balkan countries focused on accession preparations in order to advance the enlargement process in a number of key areas; such as the functioning of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, freedom of expression and fundamental rights.
"We therefore call on the Commission to demonstrate its commitment to keeping the enlargement policy alive by working hard on the opening of new negotiation chapters with Turkey, Montenegro and Serbia and adequately addressing the challenges in Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Albania and Kosovo in order to continue making concrete progress in 2015 on their EU integration path."
