The heads of state from central and southeast European countries said on Friday that the process of Euro Atlantic integration will be incomplete without the full inclusion of the Western Balkans.
"This region has no alternative but the integration into the European Union," says the draft document to be adopted Saturday, pledging for further EU enlargement.
Officials from 18 central and southeast European member countries ended the first part of their two-day summit in Ohrid, a lakeside resort in southern Macedonia, on Friday.
Among the countries present at the summit, 10 are EU members, three have EU candidate status and five have not joined the bloc. Most of them are west Balkan countries.
Slovenian President Danilo Turk said that the EU will succeed as a global player if it includes candidate countries.
"At no cost should we allow that Balkans remain a black hole outside the European Union," said Turk, whose country currently presides over the EU.
Albanian President Bamir Topi said that Euro Atlantic integration is the best way in providing safe and sustainable development for countries in the region and beyond.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a state visit to Macedonia and attending the meeting as a special guest, said that the region of south eastern Europe would be stable only if it was integrated into the EU and NATO.
Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said in a key note speech that west Balkans countries have achieved visible progress, but certain risks still remained and should not be underestimated.
Crvenkovski said membership in the NATO and EU were his country's main priority and expressed regrets that Macedonia was not invited to join NATO at a summit in Bucharest in April.
Macedonia's NATO membership was blocked by Greece over a 17 year-long name dispute between the two countries.
Athens has been opposed to its neighbor being called the "Republic of Macedonia," arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia.
Source:Xinhua
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