Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-09-16-Speech-3-220"
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"en.20090916.17.3-220"2
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"The European Union has become stronger after every expansion, not only because it has created a common market for almost 500 million citizens, but also because it has guaranteed stability in Central and Eastern Europe. The Balkan countries are an integral part of Europe. The economic crisis or the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty must not delay the process leading to these countries’ accession to the European Union.
I firmly believe that extending the expansion process to the Balkans is a vital process which the European Union must support in order to strengthen its global role. We must not forget that the Balkan countries’ catch-up process, along with the healing of the wounds from the bloody war at the end of the 20th century, guarantee the European Union’s stability and the region’s well-being. Waiving the visa requirement for Serbia, Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a vitally important event for these countries as part of their process of catching up, while also reflecting the European Union’s responsibility to the region.
This process must be resolutely continued. It will then enable Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and – at the appropriate time – Kosovo to benefit as soon as possible, after meeting the relevant conditions, from the application of visa-free travel. I support, without reservation, the view of those European politicians who think that suppressing the Balkan countries’ ambitions to join the EU would entail unforeseeable, damaging consequences."@en1
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