The future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union, and those aspirants should be gradually integrated so as to feel the the benefits of the membership already in the run-up to the admission to the Union, the European Council President Charles Michel said in Brussels on Wednesday.

“The EU aims to bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU, preparing the ground for accession, and bringing concrete benefits to their citizens already during the enlargement process,” it was stated on the website of Michel.

On Wednesday the European Union and Western Balkan officials held a summit meeting.

“The summit was an opportunity to reaffirm the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans,” said Michel after the meeting that brought together office-holders from the 27 EU member-states and six Western Balkan countries.

Michel underscored the importance of the gradual integration of the aspirants in certain sector policies so that the advantages of the EU membership could be felt even before the completion of the full membership.

The European Commission unveiled a €6 billion plan for sustaining the gradual integration of Western Balkan countries.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the plan consists of four pillars.

The first is about opening the EU internal market for those aspirants in seven sectors, including customs policies, transport and roaming. The EU recalls the shared commitment to step up efforts to enhance the integration of the Western Balkans with the EU internal market.

The second pillar refers to the establishment of a common regional market which can facilitate the growth of the region's Gross Domestic Product by 10%.

In the third pillar, the aspirants are expected to adopt the required reforms.

The last pillar refers to investments, von der Leyen said.

Those six Western Balkan countries are supposed to fully align with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy and its restrictive measures., including sanctions against Russia.

The leaders of the European Union and its Member States, in consultation with Western Balkans leaders, and in the presence of regional and international stakeholders, on Wednesday concluded that “the increasingly complex geo-strategic environment, dominated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and heavily marked by the crisis in the Middle East, continues to put European and global security at risk,” reads the Brussels declaration adopted at the summit

“It demonstrates the importance of unity and purpose within the European family and of the strategic partnership between the EU and the Western Balkans region bringing about ever closer ties and deeper cooperation with the EU, based on shared principles and values.”

On Thursday the 27-strong Union starts a two-day summit meeting with enlargement and the revision of the multi-annual financial perspective being on the agenda.