SOFIA: The EU backs Bulgaria's push under its upcoming presidency of the bloc for closer ties with Western Balkan countries who want to join, European Parliament chief Antonio Tajani said Tuesday.
"We are very much committed to strengthening links to maintain the (EU) accession process for a number of countries in the region," Tajani said after talks with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Sofia.
"The Bulgarian presidency (of the European Union in the first half of 2018) and the Bulgarian PM can be of great assistance in helping us reach important objectives in this strategy," he said.
"It's a region that has to be a priority," he said.
Borisov said for his part that he sees a "huge chance to have real progress" in this regard.
Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia have been the only countries from the region to have achieved EU accession to date.
The efforts of their neighbours Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia have become bogged down in local disputes and problems with graft and organised crime.
In an apparent reference to Russia's influence in the region, Borisov on Monday highlighted the importance of keeping the region within the EU orbit.
"If the Balkans do not enter the EU, this will generate huge tensions in the future and new spheres of influence by the other world powers, who do not hide their interest in the Balkans," he said.
Enthusiasm for more EU enlargement among existing EU members has also waned, with Montenegro and Serbia the only two countries in the region to have opened accession talks.
Borisov also called for a "normalisation" of the EU's ties with Turkey, with which Bulgaria shares a 260-kilometre (160-mile) border.
Ties have soured dramatically between the EU and Turkey since a failed coup there in 2016.
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