There is no stability in Europe without stability in the Western Balkans, EU MPs and participants of a two-day European Parliament (EP) conference on the EU’s foreign and security policy concluded on Friday.

The European perspective of the Western Balkan region remains at the focus in the European Union, and the integration of southeastern EU candidate countries into the Union is important for the stability of the region and Europe, participants of the conference agreed.

Austrian Foreign Minister, Karin Kneissl, and Managing Director for Europe and Central Asia in the European External Action Service, Thomas Mayr-Harting, said there was a new dynamic in place within the EU accession process which must be used.

The Western Balkans are part of Europe and should be called Southeast Europe, Kneissl pointed out, adding that the EU cannot be complete until it is integrated into the EU, as history shows that the future of Southeast Europe must be within the Union.

But she also pointed out that there are big challenges in this process, touching upon the massive emigration from the Western Balkan region.

“The emigration of youth leads to graveyards being full, but villages being empty,” she said of the Western Balkans.

Ethnic belonging is still ahead of contribution to society in the Western Balkans, and a “meritocracy” must be established in the region, she said, adding that the accession process in the southeast of Europe urgently needs a “breakthrough”.

The door to the EU is still open for Western Bakan countries, she said, urging them to reconcile and overcome their obstacles stemming from the past.

She also touched upon the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, saying that a future agreement between them must include Serbia’s full recognition of Kosovo as an independent state.

Mayr-Harting said that the EU accession of Western Balkan countries by the year 2025 is a highly ambitious goal.

“In order for this to be achieved, efforts by regional countries are necessary. The fight against corruption and the establishment of rule of law are the top priority for this,” he said.

According to the Chairman of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister, there is a new focus on the strategic importance of EU expansion.

Alfred von Oppenheim Centre for European Policy Studies representative Theresia Toeglhofer said that the process of integrating the Western Balkan region into the EU must be accelerated because of the increasing dissatisfaction among citizens in the region.