The Western Balkans countries backsliding or stagnating on fundamental values or failing to align with the European Union’s (EU) foreign policy cannot be eligible for financial assistance through the new Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans, said chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister.

McAllister was addressing the European Parliament Joint Committee on Budgets and Committee on Foreign Affairs, at which the European Commission discussed the establishment of the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans of 6 billion euros for the period 2024-2027.

Under the European Commission proposal, the Facility consists of 2 billion euros in grants and 4 billion euros in loans for the reform of political legal and economic systems to bring the Western Balkans countries closer to the European Union (EU) and so accelerate the speed of their accession to the EU.

According to Gert Jan Koopman of the European Commission, the Western Balkans economies are not converging rapidly enough with the EU. He said their average per capita income stands at about a third of the EU, their progress has been very limited, which creates many problems and that it is therefore necessary to help the reform processes of the future EU members.