Several members of the European Union on Tuesday called on the European Council, which is convening in Brussels on 21-22 March, to give a greenlight to the opening of the accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina and endorse the negotiating frameworks with Ukraine and Moldova.

Ahead of a discussion of the General Affairs Council, which has the enlargement of the EU on its agenda, the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament held a discussion on this topic with foreign ministers of Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania as well as the deputy ministers or secretaries of state of Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Hungary.

MEPs wanted to exchange views with their guests and to seek solutions on how to approach challenges that EU enlargement will face in the future, says the Committee.

During the discussion, the participants agreed that following Russia's war of aggression, the new impetus should be taken advantage of in the light of the fact that enlargement has become a strategic must.

However, the accession of each aspirants should be conducted in line with their own progress.

Croatian Foreign Ministry State Secretary Andreja Metelko Zgombic said that they expect the European Council to open the negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina this week and call on the European Commission to propose a negotiating framework.

“This would be a strong message to pro-European forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and this will show that that reforms pay off. That will encourage other western Balkan countries and three countries in the Eastern Neighbourhood — Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia –, said she.

Austrian Foreign Minister Karoline Edtstadler said that the new geopolitical circumstances imposed the question on when the enlargement should happen and not whether enlargement should happen.

Danish Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that after the enlargement fatigue, the mood has changed and he agreed that the enlargement shloud be on the agenda.

We support the EC assessments for Ukraine and Moldova that they are ready for the negotiations, he said.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has made great progress but a lot of job remains to be done, The situation is fragile, said the Danish foreign minister adding that Denmark supports the Commission's assessments.

Letter

Ahead of crucial decisions to be made this week, officials of Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, Slovakia and Slovenia signed a letter calling on EU leaders to okay the opening of the membership talks with Bosnia and Herzegovina.