 Dear colleagues, I think everybody feels that EU enlargement process has multiple implications for the European Union, of course, but also at local and regional level. It is in mind that's why we invited Commissioner Varhally for this debate, and I think we will have the opportunity to exchange opinions on this issue. We have also an opinion that will be voted after this debate. The EU enlargement package 2022, the rapporteur is our colleague Anna Magyar, and for now what I would like to do is to give the floor to Commissioner Oliver Varhally for 10 minutes. Commissioner, you have the floor. Thank you very much, dear President, the members of the Committee of the Region. First of all, I want to thank you for the invitation to your plenary, and for keeping a very strong focus on EU enlargement policy, and also the role it plays in contributing to long-term peace, democracy, prosperity, security and stability of our continent. I'd also like to thank your rapporteur, Anna Magyar, and for the dedicated work on this opinion and the continued support for our enlargement policy. The focus of our discussion today is on the role of local and regional authorities in the EU enlargement process, and they indeed have a major role in overcoming crucial shortcomings and difficulties faced by the accession countries. We cannot discuss enlargement without considering the local dimension, as local communities, cities and regions are key players in European integration. In particular, local and regional governments play an important role as an anchor of stability by promoting socio-economic development and facilitating cross-border cooperation. Local and regional authorities are real actors for change as they implement a substantial part of the EU legislation. Moreover, their increased involvement in the accession process is crucial for greater transparency and accountability, and for bringing enlargement closer to the citizens. The current geopolitical landscape is of great concern. Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has fundamentally changed the security situation in the EU's immediate neighborhood and continues to represent one of the greatest geopolitical challenges the whole continent has faced in the short past. At the same time, this fundamental change has also brought about the membership applications of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, and the EU has given a swift and positive response to these applications. As you know, last June the European Council granted European perspective to all three countries and granted candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. With the trio, the Western Balkans and Turkey, there are now 10 enlargement countries, the highest number we have had since the fifth round of enlargement back in 2004 and 2007. In the autumn, the Commission will adopt its annual enlargement package, where we will provide a detailed analysis and fact-based assessment of the state of play and the progress made by all the 10 countries across all areas. 2022 saw further positive developments. In the Western Balkans, the EU opened a session negotiation process with Albania and North Macedonia in July. Immediately thereafter, the Commission started the screening process with these two countries, which is well on track and proceeding smoothly, and we are just about to submit our report on that to the Council. In December, Bosnia and Herzegovina was granted candidate status. In December, we also held an EU Western Balkan Summit for the first time in the region, in Tirana, with important deliverables for the entire region. A major achievement was the signing of the declaration lowering the roaming charges between the Western Balkans and the EU, starting in October this year already. This is a clear example of delivering tangible benefits for citizens and accelerating the real integration of the region into the EU. The EU enlargement agenda represents today more than ever a clear geostrategic investment in long-term peace, stability and security of our continent. After the milestones achieved in 2022, it is very important to keep this positive momentum and to deliver further results. We need to keep our partners engaged, and we need our partners to deliver on reforms, and for that we need to show our commitment and presence in the region. The EU looks forward to continue building the EU-Turkey relationship following the re-election of President Erdogan and the new Turkish government entering office. Turkey remains a candidate country and a key partner. Even though our relations remain complex, with the accession negotiations that stand still due to long-standing issues, it is of strategic importance for both the EU and Turkey to work on advancing this process and partnership for our shared prosperity, stability and to the benefit of all our people. The current geopolitical challenges make it ever more relevant to work closely together, for instance, on energy or food security. In the upcoming period, the European Union will engage with the new Turkish government to discuss the outlook of our partnership. 2023 marks also the 20th year, 20th anniversary of the Tessaloniki summit, which represented a historic turning point in the enlarging policy, reforming the European Union's commitment to expand its borders and extend its core values and principles to new member states. The Tessaloniki EU leaders' summit reiterated their firm support to the European perspective of the Western Balkans, stating that the future of the Balkans is within the European Union. And this commitment is still very much alive. The Commission will continue supporting the reform process, which should lead to a real transformation on the ground. Since the beginning of the mandate of this Commission, we have developed together with our partners an ambitious economic and investment plan for the Western Balkans, with the potential leverage of 30 billion euros in investments, and another economic investment plan for the Eastern partnership countries, which could leverage 17 billion euros in investments. Through these plans, we accelerate their economic and social integration to close the development gap between our regions. So far, we have approved 54 flagship investments, with a value of 2.3 billion euros in grants, and that will leverage up to 8 billion euros in investments in the next years. Besides working on the reduction of the economic and social divide, we are working on new ways to deepen our collaboration with the Western Balkans, even before full accession into the European Union. Our President, President von der Leyen, announced on the 31st of May at the Globe Summit a new growth plan for the Western Balkans that will be based on four pillars. The first, bringing the Western Balkans closer and into the EU single market. Second, deepening regional economic integration. Third, accelerating fundamental reforms. And fourth, increasing pre-accession funds, already before accession. We're confident that this is the right offer to the region. And it is also, to a certain extent, a new approach for the European Union. As we do not only ask our partners to take new steps towards us, but we also take a big step towards them to reach the shared goal, which is to speed up their journey into the EU. I'm very grateful for the work of the Committee of the Region, because it fosters the role of regional and local authorities in our partner countries. And I want to thank you for sharing the best practices from within the EU and providing advice on how to best tackle the existing problems. The Enlargement Day, a flagship event organized by the Committee of the Regions, each year is a great example of raising awareness of the local and regional dimension of the enlargement process, and discuss how to better involve local and regional authorities in the EU enlargement process. I would also like to welcome the extension of the Committee of the Regions Young Elected Politicians Program to EU candidate countries from this year. I'm confident that engaging with the youth and enabling them to participate directly in the Union's democratic life make a difference on the ground when paving the way forward into the EU. We strongly believe that the enlargement perspective is the most effective way to keep on supporting our partners on key political, institutional, social and economic reforms that are necessary to meet the EUA key and standards and to pursue long-term peace, stability and prosperity for their citizens. With this, I want to thank you for the opportunity and for your attention. Thank you. Thank you so much, Commissioner. Dear colleagues, we have the honour and the pleasure of having with us also Andreas Schieder, he's a member of the European Parliament and he's the chair of the delegation to the EU North Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee of the European Parliament. Mr. Schieder, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. You have the floor for five minutes. Yes, thank you, President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I want to say also it's an honour to be again here in the Committee of the Region. I served also some years as a former member of the City Council of Vienna in the Committee of the Regions and also in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Region, which in these days was called RELEX, I think you changed the name now. So speaking about enlargement, I think it was important that with the new mandate of the Commission at the beginning of 2019, that enlargement came back on the top of the agenda. Out of several reasons, it was extremely important because especially the Western Balkan region is a European region, deserves the integration in this very important. And later on, also there came the new geopolitical framework. On the one hand, Russian aggression against the Ukraine and of course also the support on the solidarity with the Ukraine from the region was very important. But also when we were looking on Chinese, Russian and other interference in public activities, in political debates, in the media and so on, it is a geopolitical and therefore also a European important region. But if we ask ourselves what, let's say, is the result of these four years, are we better off than we had been before? I think we can also look at the glass half full or half empty. There are also some critical points to be mentioned. For example, standstill in North Macedonia, which had been the most pro-European, most pro-reform countries, but was blocked very long from the negotiation and still, let's say there is an open question, which has to be discussed there, especially we are missing any idea coming also how to deal with the Bulgarian veto, neither the Council nor the Commission has an idea how to deal with this and in this situation also the anti-EU sentiment is growing in the country. The government still is willing to follow the EU path, but also the constitutional change, which they ask of course is a big hurdle which we will see if they are able to overcome this and I think there it is even more important to have a strong support. If we look at Bosnia, Bosnia Herzegovina, which is the most complicated country because of its constitutional complicated situation due to Dayton and the peace agreement, but also what we see there is that nationalist forces also getting stronger and stronger even as the last election in Bosnia were putting a pro-democratic, pro-change mood from the citizens in the elections, but the political landscape still is strongly characterized by nationalistic forces in the Republic of Srebysk with Miloratodik, but also Croatian nationalists coming there and I would also say that the reactions of the European Union and the European Commission must be stronger also to maybe also stop some projects with those which are using inflammatory rhetoric and developing everyday provocations also, which is threatening the unity of the country. Kosovo, we are in the last month seeing also increasing instability, especially in the north part of Kosovo and the relation with Serbia is not getting easier, but we had a new government which was very pro-reformistic and very open for interstate reforms, but we have also to be clear that these both side rhetorics fail a little bit the reality because it was also the neighbour's Serbian president, Vucic's policy which starts asking for the embargo on the elections and so on, so there is also an insight and I think that we have to look also very closely, so the dialogue process has to be taken serious, but this means also to make pressure on the, not only on the Kosovo government but also on the Serbian one to come back to the table, to work on the table, to negotiate, but if you reach an agreement also to stand and accept this agreement also when you come back home. Sometimes we witness it, good results in the negotiations but when the politicians came home to Belgrade for example they could not remember what they were negotiating before. And therefore coming also to Serbia in the last seconds, also in Serbia of course we see huge progress but also huge stepping back especially on the quality of democracy, quality of media freedom, quality of political freedom of expression and therefore I think also the role of a successful taxation process led by the commission must be won which is much more critical on this negative effect and must be much more clear also on the rule of law and of all these points beside not to forget that Serbia still is not aligned with the EU foreign policy especially on the questions of supporting Ukraine in the war of Russia's aggression. President I will stop there and leave where I happen to listen to the debate. Thank you so much. Now I would like to give the floor to the rapporteur Anna Magyar. You have the floor for three minutes. Thank you very much President. First of all I would like to thank Commissioner Varheyi for attending today's meeting. It's very important for him to be here and it's also important for the Committee of the Regions and the European Commission to coordinate their work. I was delighted to be rapporteur on this opinion on behalf of the ECR this year once again. Enlargement policy is one of the EU's most successful policies because it allows processes to be set in motion in EU's neighbouring countries which ensure coherence between EU and its neighbours. The enlargement policy brings countries together and therefore promotes peace and prosperity not just in the EU but also in the immediate neighbourhood. And this is why we say that successful enlargement policy is as much in the EU's interest as it is in the interests of those countries that wish to join the EU. This aspect of enlargement policy is even more valuable in the current geographical context and enlargement is going to be a key priority in the coming years. And I therefore focused in my opinion on aspects which highlight the political importance of enlargement policy and also how good relations can be built with countries that are either in the accession process or that wish to join the EU in the long term. Now there were several amendments tabled to my draft but I was very happy that on the 18th of April the CIVEX Commission unanimously adopted the draft opinion. This opinion focuses on the Commission's 2022 enlargement package therefore it doesn't include Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and their accession that will be in next year's report. I have had many discussions with ambassadors and regional stakeholders, NGOs and local government representatives as part of my work on this file. Now it's the LRAs that are directly responsible for many aspects of EU integration but all stakeholders have highlighted the problem of insufficient administrative capacity and also lack of transparency. Now it's up to every country to decide how they deal with integration and it's true that the EU first and foremost builds relationships with states that are subject to international law. At the same time we can help ensure that accession countries are also involved in consultations at local level. We can also help ensure that improvements are made at local and regional authorities in order to remedy the problem of lack of administrative capacity. Local governments are closest to voters. This is why it's in the EU's interest for organisations to be set up at local level which are committed to EU projects. I would like to ask the Commission to support including local and regional authorities in the decision making process and also look at what kind of funds are available to support the local level to ensure that best practices from other member states are taken on board. Thank you very much. Thank you. Now the floor goes to the chair of the CVEC's Commission, our member Patrick Malinos. Commissioner, honourable MEP dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, as chair of the CVEC's Commission, responsible at the Committee of Regions for Enlargement and Monitoring that I would like to reiterate our position in favour of dynamic of accompanying the enlargement process which we will describe as pragmatic. Experience of previous accessions has shown us in particular that successful decentralisation in the candidate countries for accession was a condition seen at Kwanan, in particular as a guarantee of high quality participatory processes and a reduction in territorial divisions. We are naturally very aware of the new dynamics of this process due to the geopolitical context of the gates of the European Union. We are therefore redoubling our efforts to face up to these challenges. As you know our commitment to Ukraine has been strong, fast and concrete. We are particularly interested in the European Commission TAIX instrument which offers assistance to public administrations, including local and regional ones. At our request this instrument has been extended to Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. I therefore call on our colleagues to mobilise their administrations to share their expertise in this context. The opinion presented by Ms Magyar underlines the importance of political plurality in the representation of partner countries within the joint consultative committees. We believe it is important to assert this requirement with the authorities of the candidate countries. These committees are our statutory tool for our work in the field of enlargement and we are ready to move forward in this direction with Albania. We also consider it necessary to initiate a similar procedure for Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This new stage entails legal obligations but we would be in favour of speeding it up before the end of the Commission's mandate in order to have a legal basis because setting up a joint advisory committee requires a decision of the Stabilisation Association Council. For Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in particular, I would like to reiterate our demand for reforms in public administration, the fight against corruption and of course respect for the rule of law and human rights. This remark is also valid for Tuke where the repression of pluralism and the dismissal of opposition mayors and public officials are of great concern. We feel this dimension needs to be fully taken into account in future evaluation reports. And finally, a member of the European Parliament, I confirm to you that the European Committees of the Regions fully aware of the eminent institutional and political role of the European Parliament vis-à-vis the ex-leanagement process, which is to strengthen its exchanges with Parliament. We would therefore like our future reporters on the next enlargement package to be heard by the AFET Committee. Our institutional deadlines are quite similar and our approaches can be complementary on one of the priority issues in the European Union Strategic Agenda for 2024-2029. We feel that our contribution would be useful and we are therefore prepared to formally propose it. Thank you. Thank you. The floor now goes to Member Dobroslavic. You have the floor for two minutes. Thank you, Mr. President, dear Commissioner, dear Member of the European Parliament. Congratulations to Mrs. Majar on a quality draft of the opinion. Enlargement under well-known conditions would be good for the candidate countries, but also for the EU. All candidates and potential candidate countries should become members of the EU, but they must meet all the criteria for the accession. It is not possible to become a member of a club and not comply with its standards and rules. Bosnian Herzegovina has to resolve these functionalities in its political system. In the entity of Republika Srpska, we witnessed repeated secessionism by President Dodik, lately through non-recognition of the constitutional court. Also denial of the genocide is permanent. Bosnian Herzegovina must ensure the equal rights of all constituent peoples and the right for each of its citizens to be elected in all political bodies. Serbia must comply with the EU foreign policy and impose sanctions to the Russian Federation. Settle its relations with Kosovo, fight the captured state and seize to celebrate the war criminals. All are welcome to the EU, but no shortcuts are possible. And local and regional authorities must be involved in all processes of the enlargement. Thank you. Thank you. The floor goes to Member Schausberger. Two minutes. Your Excellency, Mr. President, Commissioner, Mr. Siede. On behalf of the EPP, I would like to congratulate you on your very solid opinion. I'm glad that the enlargement agenda involved recognising candidate status for Ukrainian Molovo and in prospect for Georgia and also the beginning of negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania, you know, all developments for which it was high time. And I hope as well that the Bulgarian government will be able to resolve open issues with North Macedonia. It's clear that at the end of the day, we shouldn't have second-class citizens in the enlargement process. The LRAs often have made an important contribution in achieving progress in the western Balkans. When diplomatic efforts have faltered, I would remind you of the situation in Mosdar in 2020, the Committee of the Regions can also act as a mediator in the Kosovo conflict when it comes to the status of the Serbian community in the north of Kosovo. Perhaps Serbia could in return give up its insistence on the use of the asterisk. We would certainly be prepared to act as mediators and we also hope there will be a stronger dialogue between us and Turkish municipalities as long as all actors are welcomed, including Cypriot members. The mayors of Cyprus haven't yet been able to travel to Turkey without renouncing their nationality because they are not recognised by the Turkish authorities. We do hope to redouble our efforts to help reunite the two communities in the island of Cyprus, but of course we need good cooperation and a rapprochement between Turkey and the EU. Johan Sen, you have the floor for four minutes. Thank you very much. Thank you very much indeed. Well, I'm delighted we're having this debate. My name is Maria Johansson. I am a member from Sweden and I represent the CIVEX Committee. We had a debate a few years ago on the European Enlightenment policy. I am quite sure that Mr. Anders Schinder will remember that debate, but following the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the doors, the very gateway to Europe, things have changed. We have seen Ukrainians who are opposed to Russia. We've seen the same of Georgians with their flags in the street and others in this region who wish to play a role and be members of the European Parliament in the PES. We have seen their blockages over the last few years. We've lost so many opportunities to really move forward. Now, we have missed valuable opportunities. There have been historical errors. The local and regional authorities can play a role working together hand in hand. We have the Eurex Commission, Danejo, and I would like to remind colleagues that you must be more committed to this process, working with mayors in other countries to help these people get ready to be members, future members of the EU. We also have to send out hopeful signals to our friends in Ukraine. Positive signals what is happening in Moldova and Georgia and provide our support to everybody who supports in Turkey, everyone who supports the EU. But that means that there has to be a proper commitment from both sides. We are very concerned by what is happening with the policies in Serbia, for example. We have seen how there are risks concerning the common security and defence policy and the sanctions against Russia. All of this is very important. We are seeing a permanent threat in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is a threat against them and it puts this in danger as the neighbouring countries and there is a risk of further fragmentation in the region. We need to look at the example of north of Kosovo and call on the Commission and all of the neighbouring countries to help to defuse the tensions in this region so that people can sit around the table and really dialogue on this. As far as relations with Turkey is concerned, in March we expressed our concern as local authorities concerning the pressure that is being put on all of these academics, lawyers and civil society in that country, the pressure being put upon them and everybody in Turkey must be part of a democratic debate. We are also seeing global threats from the EU. We simply cannot leave regions such as that with 18 million inhabitants just to their own devices. We have to help. They are just... They are our neighbours. We must show that the doors of the EU are open and we must make sure that this dream can finally come true. Thank you. Thank you very much. Commissioner, dear colleagues, I'm speaking to you today with my head of the JCC North Macedonia Chair. For several years I am now chairing meetings between North Macedonia local representatives and their EU counterparts. And today, more than ever, I can stand before you and claim that cities and regions matters. While LRAs have a very limited role in the session negotiations as such, they have a significant weight in accompanying citizens with relevant information on the process and, of course, implementing concrete projects showcasing how membership in the EU could improve the quality of citizens' life. These steps contribute strongly to building a favourable atmosphere for EU membership at times when there is a clearer session fatigue in many of the countries that dreamt once the European dream. Last but certainly not least, and in particular in the context of Western Balkans but also in the context of the Ukraine, local and regional authorities have the power to ease in outstanding regional conflicts, although this power remains unused. LRA serves as catalysts in promoting cross-border cooperation, enabling regions to collaborate on diverse initiatives. Their active facilitation allows for joint projects encompassing infrastructure development, research and, of course, culture exchanges. By fostering collaboration across borders, LRAs instill a sense of solidarity encouraging regions to leverage their strengths and collectively tackle shared challenges. And one more thing. We shouldn't let them wait too long. Interest in the EU among the population is declining, and I completely understand them because we ask some of them to change so that we can take them among us. Would you love someone who would make your love conditional on you changing, for example, your name? Probably not. I'll finish with the quote of Robert Schumann, one of the fathers of EU, saying only the people can change and reach things in the institutions and transmit them to future generations. Thank you very much. Thank you. Member Cestak, you have the floor for... you have the floor for... two and a half minutes. Microphone. Distributo. Thank you very much, commissioner, colleagues. Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the Thessaloniki Declaration on the Western Balkans. And we all know the added value that the 2004 enlargement brought to the European Union. There's no reason for us to leave our Balkan friends out of this very beneficial process because they're also Europeans, just like all of us in this room. Anna Marguer's opinion was adopted in CIVEX unanimously, and I welcome the fact that her opinion highlights the importance of a merit-based approach to enlargement. This is what we need to focus on because this will ensure the best results for all candidates and all stakeholders, including local and regional authorities. It will encourage them to do better and to take ownership of the wonderful process that is accession to the EU. We're entering a phase where enlargement policy will be increasingly under the spotlight. Recently, we've been debating the potential effects of new members joining the EU, and these discussions have also looked at how this would impact the most important EU policies. Integrating the Western Balkans into the Union would undoubtedly promote peace and stability. It's in our common interest for the region to develop economically. We talk a great deal about the Western Balkans, and it's crucial that this talk is translated into action. I'd encourage all of you, when discussing the Western Balkans, to involve our Western Balkan partners where possible. The Commissioner for Enlargement and the Hungarian Government have shown how this can be done because there's been a great deal of investment in dialogue with partners and also a focus on the fact that the strategic enlargement in the Western Balkans is of crucial importance for long-term energy security. Drink consultative committees and working groups at the Committee of the Regions can play a key role in encouraging cooperation in areas such as border protection or curbing illegal migration on the Balkan route. The trafficking of people without the right to asylum in the EU remains a concern for citizens who are very worried about maintaining social cohesion in their regions. I'd like to congratulate and thank Anna Maudyard, the rapporteur, for the excellent work on this very important file. This is another opinion led by the ECR, which improves the Committee of the Regions, Authority and Collective Expertise. Thank you. Two minutes. Thank you very much, President. Well, first of all, I would like to thank Mr Vardheyi and also Ms Maudyard for her work on this issue. I come from southwestern Hungary, the city of Pij. This is a city which has had very close relations with the Western Balkans for centuries. It's in a very strategic location, and from a trade and diplomatic point of view, it could be a very good link between Hungary and the EU and the Western Balkans. So I'd really like to encourage the accession process in this region. The problem relates to transport. Therefore, it's very important for this region to join the EU to improve connections transport-wise. When we are talking about enlargement here, we are talking about countries where there is peace. If there is no peace in a country, we can't expect there to be democracy or protection of minority rights or decentralisation. At local and regional authorities, we have done a huge amount for this issue because often the relations between local authorities can be independent of relations with the central authorities. It's important to remember that there is a somewhat disillusioned with the European Union in many of these areas, and I think that LRAs can do a great deal to improve on that. Thank you. Ratilainen, the floor is yours for two minutes. Thank you, Mr President. I'd like to begin by apologising and saying how shocked I am at the attacks on Ukraine and the civilian victims. The Spanish presidency will be organising a conference on this, and it's important that we continue the enlargement process in Brussels here, and we should bear in mind that in dealing with the challenges that we face, including unrest, civil unrest, the central government alone is not enough. We need work at the local level, and we need the financing for that. Continued sufficient funding under the next MFF is going to be extremely important, and we hope that the local dimension will play a key role in all of the budgetary negotiations. We've extended the Young Politicians programme, and we have emphasised the need to do more with young politicians, and we hope that in our enlargement debates, the voice of young people will be properly taken into account. Mr President, Commissioner Urover talked about the key role of young people in the debate yesterday, in the debate on democracy, and there's a lot more that can be done there. I'd like to thank Anna Magia for her excellent opinion. You are a true expert in this field. Thank you. Mr Karnavos, you have the floor for one minute. Thank you, Mr President. Thank you. Our draft opinion on the enlargement of the European Union has very correctly urged Albania to enforce the next three regulations on self-determination using of mother tongue in regional and local authorities and the definition of new minorities, but the accession procedure of a country also depends mainly on respecting the Copenhagen criteria and the rule of law, and it's something that's judged upon every day, not just once a year, by the report of the European Commission and the Albanian Parliament. So in order to be part of this process, you need to respect democratic convictions and electoral results, because for a month and a half, Freddie Belary, who was our fellow citizen and is now the mayor of Himarin, Albania, is something that creates a lot of questions. He wasn't even given a few hours of leave to be able to be sworn in, so I would like all of you here with me to condemn this practice and to join our voices in asking for Freddie Belary to be liberated by the Albanian authorities. Thank you. Enlargement policy is an important policy for both the EU and candidate countries. EU benefits from broadering the area of stability and prosperity at its borders, from extending the common market rules and new business opportunities, from strengthening its international role and influence. Candidate countries benefit from the enlargement process because it provides them with the best guidelines for desired political, economic and social transition. Enlargement policy materializes through the accession to the EU membership process, and the accession process is basically a reform process. Here is where local authorities can play a very important role, primarily through sharing their experience on running the cities and regions in accordance with the European standards and rules. In addition, we can provide our counterparts in the candidate countries with valuable input on how to best implement European key communitaires and EU policies where local authorities play a crucial role. Ten years ago, Croatia offered to do all Western Balkan countries' Euro-Atlantic partnership agreement, pledging technical assistance in their respective accession processes. This assistance includes the active engagement of local authorities and has proven to be very beneficial all involved sides. Thank you. Member Karajanis, you have the floor for one minute. Thank you. I am the national commissioner, president of the Civics. Since April 2023, when we adopted the opinion for the enlargement package for 2022 by the Civics Committee, a lot has changed in Turkey. President Erdogan has been elected again, and in the occupied part of Cyprus by Turkey, and just across from our municipality, they recently announced that they will be housing one... that they will be building 1,200 new houses to house couples... young couples from Turkey. And also, they will use the occupied beach of our municipality to attract tourists. Dear colleagues, this is all happening before our very eyes, and they enhance the irredentism of Turkey in a member state like Cyprus, and sending us the message that, you know, we are here and coming closer to you. I agree with the comment on Albania. Again, here, we have an infringement of the rule of law, and this should have an influence on the enlargement process of Albania. I would like to commend this, and I need 10 seconds, because there was a reference to passports. Since 2011, once I've been mayor, I never had the opportunity to visit Turkey. And I don't know if I will ever be allowed to visit Turkey. Every day that we go through the points from our part to the occupied part, we need to show our identity cards to be able to freely circulate in our own country. Four for one minute. Thank you, Mr. President, Mr. Commissioner. Things have changed since 2004, when my country Slovakia and other countries from the region joined to the European Union. I must say we were lucky, because now it seems to me that it's much harder to become a EU member than before, but it's also true again that Europe and the world has changed significantly, too. Sometimes it may feel like the entry requirements are so tough that they prevent candidate countries from joining to the European Union, for example, those from western Balkans. But we should not discourage them in this way. We should give them every opportunity that they deserve. What is missing from the EU enlargement policy mostly over the western Balkan countries, in my view, is the engaged braveness, similar approach that we can see concerning the migration policy inside of the EU institutions. We should show engaged solidarity and engaged braveness to make these candidate countries' dreams come true and let them join to the European Union. Let me also say what many others said today that the EU enlargement is not just about meeting criteria, it's about supporting democracy, stability and prosperity in our neighbouring regions. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Member Florian Schütz. One minute. Mr. President, Commissioner Andreas, enlargement is an important question for Austria. We are in the middle of the continent and we do have good contacts with these countries. We have a city partnership with Belgrade and we're happy at the recognition of Bosnia-Herzegovina. We've got cooperation in terms of training, education, tourism and also there's regional exchange of people. Vienna is a multicultural city and colleagues it's important that Europe be seen as a whole. Europe will never be complete without the western Balkans so we need a quick and realistic prospect for the countries of the western Balkans to look forward in what was a future in the European Union and welcome any progress that contributes to that. Thank you. Thank you, Member Meleties. You have the floor for one minute. Dear Commissioner, dear President, dear colleagues, I feel the urgent need to remind you of the absurdity of the situation concerning the relations of the EU and our own institution with Turkey. Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 in a similar way to how Russia is attacking Ukraine today and occupying half of the island till today creating 200,000 refugees in our own country. Turkey is a country where it insists not to recognize the Republic of Cyprus and continues its island invasion by opening illegally the ghost city of Russia, violating numerous security and new cancer resolutions. Also Turkey violates frequently the Cyprus airspace and our own exclusive economic zone and it is refusing to return to the negotiating table while promoting a separate state of the north. This is unacceptable. We are against the normalization of relations between Turkey and the EU. However, Turkey is not responding to any of its Cyprus-related obligations and continues its discriminatory policy towards Cyprus. Therefore, we ask the EU institutions for a candidate for a coordinated position addressing the continuing and gradually more provocative and unacceptable behavior of Turkey towards Cyprus. Thank you. Member Schwarzkiffer, you have the floor for one minute. Thank you very much, commissioner. Now, we see enlargement as a legal process. It is very important that countries that want to join the EU meet the accession requirements and it is also important for EU countries to not support anti-EU policies in those countries. But, let's look at two counties, one in Hungary, one in Croatia they are both called Boronia. Boronia County. If we look at this border region Croatia is a member of Schengen. I have some suggestions. I think that we should have direct support for projects in those border regions and in that border region and it's important to promote language teaching so that we can learn the language of our neighbor because without being able to know each other's language you won't be able to cooperate properly in the future. The floor for one minute. In EU enlargement it's an important task, especially because of security for the continent. And this is the best way of dealing with differences and disagreements but the EU has a lot to do on this. Having the western Vulcans in the EU would lead to peace and prosperity in the long term. What we need to do is show them that they have a place in the EU and they need to understand that the accession process is strict and there are no shortcuts. The region has a very complex history and the ethnic issues have not been resolved there fully. Let's give you an example. In the Romanian parliament recently there was a draft law issued which increased the election threshold to 7% and these are political attacks that constantly affect minorities in Eastern Europe and so really the commission should deal with this issue. This should be both in member states and also in accession countries. Thank you. Thank you very much indeed Mr President. The various requests for accession of various member states or future possible member states are something which is attracting a credible and sustainable approach. I've always been a great defender of our European project to our European brothers and sisters. The community region will certainly stand in solidarity with these decisions and these closer bonds between member states but the message I want to send out here today is that by supporting advances in enlargement it's fundamental for this enlargement only to happen and the candidate countries make it absolutely clear through reforms which are local regional and national in nature and unarguable reforms to prove that they are scrupulously following the European rules on the rule of law and EU based on democracy, freedom and justice. These are the values which we cannot forget. Thank you. Thank you. Bruno Ranić the floor is yours for one minute. Mr President I would like to say something about a few things the commissioner has said. Andrei Plenkovich and the Croatian government are strongly behind Bosnia and Herzegovina and we cannot say the Croatian peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a nationalist factor in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Croatian peoples is the smallest population of the peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their rights are systematically being worsened. This has been shown when it comes to the election of the Croatian representative of the presidency where the muslim peoples actually elected the Croatian representative. The Croatian peoples insists on the constituency of all the constituent peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is against a disruption of Bosnia and Herzegovina and as I said the young elected politicians program Xenia Semenova you have the floor for one minute. Thank you Mr. President Commissionary. This is what I hear every night including this one hoping my family and friends are in the safe place. Tonight Russia has target in Lviv at least five people were killed. That is why we ask for 516 all the time. Ukraine pays blood for the values of democracy and we must be the member of the EU. We are grateful for all the support you are continuously giving. It is the matter of existence for the EU. The only way to stop Russia is military. However Ukraine is working on reforms as the member of Kiev City Council I understand the role of local authorities in this. Kiev local authorities have to be more transparent and less tolerant to corruption. Cities should provide barrier free policy inclusiveness of education workplaces and city sphere is about human rights. Please involve city councils civil society and young elected politicians to the working group of Ukraine. We need you expertise in education civil education preserving of cultural heritage and nature. I invite you all to visit Ukraine to help us with this. Thank you all for fighting together. Thank you for the chance to speak to you today. I work hard and I believe that Ukraine will finally take her well deserved place in the European Union. Thank you. Member Konrad the floor is yours for one minute. As as mayor of I'd like to say something about Georgia for 50 years we've had a city partnership with Georgia and recently I was able to visit Tbilisi in Tbilisi the question of EU accession is a very pressing one not just amongst politicians but amongst people on the street last year three countries Ukraine Moldova and Georgia made an application for membership and Georgia too had its European perspective recognised by the commission these three countries are not covered by the current report but will be reported on next year so my request and recommendation and question is why not this year could we not hear an interim report on these three countries I think all three would like to know what the commission's thinking is about how the enlargement process is going and this is something that we would be happy to discuss here. Thank you. Member Moskov you have the floor for one minute. Mr. Commissioner my colleague the position is positioned on the accession of North Macedonia is clear it's not that the European compromise from last year from July last year according to the conclusions of the European Union and the negotiation framework we should have tangible results and agreement should be kept including the agreement of Prespa and the good neighborly agreement from 2017 as well as the protocols of the inter-governmental meetings the European Council in its declaration of July 22 has concluded that the Bulgarian position on the language of North Macedonia is unchanged now the ball is in the field of the Republic of North Macedonia if they want to start negotiations they should amend their constitution as to the other proposals they include protection of the civil rights of people with Bulgarian consciousness this is very clearly stated and this is part of the European compromise thank you Ladies and gentlemen I don't have any other request for the floor so we're going to Mr. Commissioner you have the floor for five minutes for final remarks Thank you very much First of all I want to thank the committee for this very rich debate that we have had my first conclusion from this debate if I may take conclusions from it is that the committee is very much dedicated to the goal of enlarging the European Union and I thank you for that because not only in words you are committed but from the debate you all know what are the key topics when it comes to enlargement and how we could make progress, quick progress on this and this is why I think that this debate was particularly encouraging today now I fully agree with many of you who made the statement and one of you made I think in the best way Mr. Florian Schütz EU will never be complete without the Western Balkans, I fully agree with you Europe is surrounding the Western Balkans it is in our interest and that leads me to the second comment which was made by the reporter that it is in the EU's interest also to get the Western Balkans into the European Union if you look at the map, if you look at the real integration already taking place on the ground it is clear that we are already relying on the Western Balkans but of course the enlargement should also bring about the reforms that many of you have called upon which is the introduction of our rules and values in it, this is why we have reinforced from the very beginning this part particularly when it comes to a rule of law, when it comes to fighting corruption organized crimes we have put this issue front and center as the driver of all the reforms in the new methodology that I think I have also presented in this house at the very beginning of the mandate this was a core issue and now we see this delivery now of course I agree with those who say that we could do more and we should do more and this is why we are we have been proposing the economic investment plan the new methodology but I think this year we have to make another leap in that and this is why this growth plan I have sketched out in general terms should be very important to follow it up still this year when we are coming back with the enlargement reports now maybe let's turn to the more specific that have been raised in the debate many of you raised the issue of North Macedonia and how we could make progress there I think that we have overcome the most difficult part of the debate which is to create the framework in which these issues could be addressed now we have a framework the so-called negotiating framework that has been created by the council and which provides all the steps that needs doing to make progress so I would ask all of you because I see that you are very many very many of you are present in the region to advocate for that so we need delivery on the steps that have been agreed together with North Macedonia instead of discussing whether these steps are the ones to take I think instead of looking to alternatives we should implement what we have agreed and that should bring us closer to a long-term solution on Bosnia Herzegovina I think it is very clear that the EU has made an offer the EU has made an offer by providing candidate status to the country last year an offer which is made to the people and now it is for the political class to live up to it and to deliver on it and of course steps like we have seen the last week in the Republika Srpska are not going to in that direction and therefore we have called upon already the authorities in the Republika Srpska to remove these laws and remove these obstacles and we are obstructing the country from making progress it is for that reason that we have welcomed the decision of the high representative to stop these laws and I have to tell you that for the Republika Srpska there is quite a bit to do to help the country to move forward on the European path and finally there was a request for an interim report which comes to the trio countries to some extent we have provided an interim report and that was the so called oral update which we have delivered only last week to the council but I want to tell you that we have an enlargement process, an annual one where we are assessing the entire set of criteria applicable for EU enlargement the oral update only focused on the specific priorities set forward by the European council last year related to the candidate status so we will have a full debate and a full report on everyone coming up in October thank you thank you commissioner thank you so much for taking the time to be with us to everybody for their support everybody that took part in adopting the opinion first of all colleagues from the ECR but also my colleagues from the CIVEX commission as well as experts now in today's debate one thing I would like to highlight is that the committee of the regions wants to focus on a merit based approach to enlargement to thank the ECR once again for allowing me to be the rapporteur for this on behalf of the CIVEX thank you Mr. Schieder if you want to add some final remarks you have five minutes thank you and thanks again for not only the invitation but also your work in this field and the debate today I just wanted to say the people in western Balkans, Moldova, Ukraine Georgia they simply want to have a European future a European life and speaking about this is not only about prosperity and economic chances it's also about the quality of life the quality of administration and less nationalism which is I think one of the biggest question in the region is the rule of law on the one side and the threat of through nationalism on the other sides regions and cities can play a major role and good administration like you live in your cities and regions can be a major example and exchange good for the region secondly we have to condemn also the Russian attempt in the region which is to try to destabilize the pro-democratic structure and forces and we can no longer ignore the rules and the issues of rule of law and also we have to establish a politics which is not dealing with nationalists and inflammatory rhetorics like in Republika Srpska like mentioned just before. What I want to see in the future is a Bosnia which is integrated, a Serbia which is democratic, a Montenegro and the Kosovo which is stable and a North Macedonian in Albania which is going quickly forward to the accession negotiation so therefore I think the European institutions have to speed up and do even more to have a successful European accession enlargement. Thank you so much. I would like to thank Commissioner Varheli for being with us and for taking the time and for sharing the information you just had. Thank you. Have a nice day, sirs. Thank you so much. Thank you very much.