Hedvig Morvai for Tanjug: The Refugee Crisis - Slowdown Factor for the EU Enlargement Process

  The refugee crisis and the challenges that Europe is faced with on everyday basis will certainly have a negative influence over EU Enlargement, said Hedvig Morvai, Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans, in an interview for the Tanjug news agency. She noted that current situation should not slowdown the reform processes and the democratization of the countries that aspire to become EU Member States. Morvai detects the problem in the fact that regional cooperation is not considered as a core interest and that there is still work to be done on building trust among the countries from the Western Balkans region. “Since relations among the countries of the region are so fragile and can be jeopardised by political leaders at any time, I believe that the signing of Declaration on Bilateral Issues at the Summit in Vienna organised as the continuation of the Berlin process, is an important step forward because it is made in a broader context and with strict monitoring mechanisms, which will closely follow the improvements. It should not be perceived as one more paper on this matter, but as useful guidance for solving the longtime disputes among neighbour countries.” Morvai shared her stance on the current EU-Western Balkans affairs during the EFB roundtable discussion entitled “The Berlin Process in Belgrade: The EU as a Peace Project Revisited in the Western Balkans”, which was held in the frames of the Belgrade Security Forum. In relation to the refugee crisis, she believes that the public call of the Forum for finding a general solution for the refugee crisis is possible. “We are witnesses of the situation where there is a lack of measures, public policies and initiatives which were expected to come from the main decision-makers in this current crisis. That leaves a “hole” where the civil society members can launch their constructive proposals and ideas and act upon them” concluded Morvai. The original text of the interview with Hedvig Morvai is available on the website of the Tanjug news agency at this link.