(Hina) - It is in the interest of the European Union that Turkey makes progress towards EU membership, however the entry of much smaller countries of Southeast Europe would not change relations and the structure of the EU, but it would be important for the stability of the region, Croatian Foreign and European Affairs Minister Vesna Pusic said on Sunday in the final statement from the Gymnich in Athens.
On the second and final day of a meeting of EU foreign minister in the Gymnich form (the oldest form of informal meetings between EU ministers), held in the capital of Greece which is currently chairing the EU, the foreign ministers talked to their colleague from countries candidates for membership - Turkey, Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia.
Turkey is a very important partner for the EU and an important candidate countries and it is the EU"s interest to have (Turkey) make progress on the path of meeting the membership criteria, the Croatian minister said. However, because of its size and importance, Turkey is a separate category in relation to the immediate neighbourhood, she added.
Southeast European countries are much smaller in size and their EU entry de facto would not change relations and the structure of the bloc, while on the other hand their meeting the criteria and qualifying for membership would significantly impact stability of Europe"s southeast," Pusic said.
The Croatian minister is taking a specific stand towards Bosnia and Herzegovina according to which issues set for Bosnia as a condition for the launching of the accession process would be resolved within a designed process. For example, the implementation of the Sejdic-Finci ruling could be resolved through a special chapter in the negotiations and constitutional changes concerning the election legislation could become an integral part of the obligations from the accession process, she said.
In that sense, membership criteria which Bosnia would be required to meet "would not be lowered, quite the contrary, as that would be counter-productive," Pusic said in Athens.
Croatia and a series of other EU members advocated that Albania be granted the candidate status. This and the issue of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be discussed and decided on at a formal meeting in June, at the Foreign Affairs Council, Pusic said.
The first day of Gymnich focused on the situation in Syria and Ukraine.
For more information on the Gymnich, visit:
http://gr2014.eu/news/press-releases/informal-meeting-ministers-foreign-affairs-gymnich-concludes-athens
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