Members of the European Parliament in the Foreign Affairs Committee, along with a series of foreign ministers of EU member states, have supported the EU enlargement process and have drawn attention to the fact that the process needs to be accelerated, as they believe it has been too slow thus far.

They have stated that the dynamics of the enlargement process need to be hastened, also in response to new geopolitical challenges following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Their statements were made in a joint debate in the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, with several foreign ministers of member states, which took place on Tuesday in Brussels.

This was the first time such a debate was held with the presence of MEPs and EU ministers.

The debate was organized just two days before the heads of state or government of the EU are set to discuss in Brussels the start of negotiations for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession, and other decisions related to enlargement.

The Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, David McAllister, stated that EU enlargement will be a topic even during the campaign for the European elections and called on the European Commission to come up with a proposal for the reforms that the EU needs to undertake in order to prepare for enlargement.

During the debate, several ministers, especially those from the Baltic countries, criticized the EU for slowing down the enlargement process and for extending deadlines. They mentioned the expectations for Ukraine to start accession negotiations in March or April, while now such a thing is not expected until at least June.

The Foreign Minister of Latvia, Krišjānis Kariņš, said that Europe cannot allow gray areas on the continent, because, according to him, those areas would be targeted by Russia.

He called for negotiations to start with Ukraine and Moldova at least by June. Kariņš expressed hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina would also qualify to start negotiations, while other Western Balkan countries would progress in the accession negotiation process.

The Foreign Minister of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, said that if it were not for the EU enlargement and the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) twenty years ago, his country would not be independent today.

Membership in the EU and NATO, he said, has proven to be a matter of the state’s existence.

He assessed enlargement as a process of building security architecture in Europe, where, as he stated, there is no longer room for neutrality or gray areas.

The Foreign Minister of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, who has been a Member of the European Parliament for two terms, recalled that there have been many delays in the process of approaching the Western Balkan countries, mentioning the long wait for the start of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, as well as visa liberalization for Kosovo.

She supported the idea that 2030 should be the year when the EU and the member states should be ready for enlargement. Fajon said that the Western Balkan countries and the three Eastern European countries that are now candidates can advance in parallel.

Ministers from Denmark and Austria also said that Europe has changed, and that enlargement is now necessary. But they reiterated that the process must remain based on the individual merits of candidate countries, to meet the criteria through reforms.

The Minister for European Affairs of Finland, Anders Adlercreutz, appealed for alignment with EU foreign policy to be a condition in the enlargement process.

He also said that the security and stability of the Western Balkans are important, not only for this region but for the whole of Europe.

Hungarian State Secretary Péter Sztáray said that in the second half of the year, when Hungary will have the next EU presidency, enlargement will be a priority.

“We would like to open negotiating chapters with Serbia, Albania, and North Macedonia in 2024, close chapters with Montenegro, and also start negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina,” he said.

Members of the European Parliament, in their speeches, called for EU countries to be more correct in their decisions and not to block candidate countries when they meet the criteria in the enlargement process.

However, in this debate, there were more or less ministers from member states who had a more positive view on enlargement.

The absence of ministers from the three largest member states, Germany, France, and Italy, was noted in the debate.