Balgarianovinite.com Serbia is calling on the European Union to accelerate the enlargement process and open the Schengen Area to the countries of the Western Balkans as soon as possible, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marko Djuric said, as quoted by local media on Wednesday. Following a meeting of EU foreign ministers and ministers from the Western Balkans, Djuric stated that “hard borders cut off the lifeblood of the economy and tourism.”
“There is no reason for Europe not to unlock the full potential of our region’s inclusion in Schengen this summer, because in our view this would lead to EUR 50 billion in new economic activity without compromising EU security,” Djuric told RTS.
Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that faster integration into the EU is dictated by global circumstances that are “unprecedented.” “There has never been a generation that has simultaneously faced the rise of artificial intelligence, social media, and a complete shift in the geopolitical order. Such rapid changes require the EU to immediately admit into its ranks countries that are not yet members but are on the continent (Europe),” Djuric argued.
The idea of jointly admitting all Western Balkan countries into the EU was proposed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the end of 2025. As a candidate member state, Serbia has so far opened 22 of 35 chapters and closed only two. The last chapter was opened in 2021. In addition, the country faces a suspension of funds from the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans due to a series of controversial amendments to the Judiciary Act that the parliamentary majority adopted without public debate. After the Venice Commission presented nine recommendations to address these revisions, the government began working on new amendments. Serbian Foreign Minister Calls on EU to Accelerate Enlargement Process, Open Schengen to Western Balkan Countries 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-05-13 17:43:12 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law