Spain, Italy call for EU-Balkans meet in Sarajevo

(CORDOBA) - The EU's Spanish presidency Saturday proposed a high level meeting of European Union and Balkan officials in June to "reinforce the European perspective of the region."

"We must show the countries in the region that we continue to care even more than we did ten years ago," Spain and Italy said in a statement to their EU partners circulated at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Cordoba, Spain.

It is ten years since a Zagreb summit affirmed the "European perspective" of the likes of Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo, though the last had not yet claimed independence.

"The challenges now are different from those faced ten years ago," the paper argued, with democracy consolidated and economies improved, despite the recent global recession.

"The challenge now is to accelerate and reinforce reforms," the statement said, calling for the meeting to be held in Sarajevo "by early June".

"Relevant partners" such as the US, Russia and Turkey, could be invited to attend part of the meeting, the document proposed.

European leaders have said that all countries of the Western Balkans can become EU members, if they fulfill the strict criteria to do so.

"The high level meeting will be the opportunity to take stock of where we are regarding each country of the region and what our objectives are for each of them," the Spanish-Italian statement said.

Fifteen years after the war which helped dismantle the former Yugoslavia, and 10 years after the Kosovo conflict, the 25 million inhabitants of the Western Balkans are on the path to EU membership, though at differing paces.

Slovenia joined the European club in 2004.

Croatia and Macedonia are official candidate nations while Serbia, Montenegro and Albania have applied.

The laggard is Bosnia, where reforms have been glacial.

Kosovo, which proclaimed independence in 2008 has still not been recognised by all EU nations, including Spain.