Addressing the EU-Western Balkans Summit, Gitanas Nausėda pointed out that it was crucial for like-minded countries to stand united and to cooperate on solutions to overcome the negative consequences of Russia’s war. According to the President, the creation of an integrated regional market based on renewable energy sources as a key to resilience against Russian energy blackmail, as well as curbing energy price hikes should be given special focus.
President Gitanas Nausėda emphasized that Lithuania favored enhancing cooperation between the EU and the Western Balkan countries, and supported EU enlargement based on the merits and reform efforts of the candidate countries.
“In the context of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, we expect our partners in the Western Balkans to stand in solidarity with EU’s position towards Ukraine and support for it, to condemn the Kremlin’s aggression and to join EU’s policy of sanctions against Russia. Our values, actions and positions on foreign policy issues have to be aligned, otherwise it will be difficult to talk about further European integration,” the President spoke.
Gitanas Nausėda stressed that the granting of EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova had given a positive momentum to the EU enlargement process, and that now it was an excellent time for the Western Balkan countries to pursue reforms and to make progress towards EU membership.
According to the President, Lithuania welcomed the opening of EU accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, and supported the granting of the candidate country status to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
