Skopje, 17 June 2022 (MIA) – The candidate status itself creates great benefits for the people. To European friends in the public – the Western Balkans is part of this project, the Western Balkans is geographically, economically, culturally and historically European. You share those values, you have solid partners in NATO, and you are excellent bilateral partners with the United States, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs and Western Balkans Special Representative, Gabriel Escobar, told a session on “Western Balkans: navigating in turbulent times” held as part of the Prespa Forum Dialogue 2022 in Ohrid. Though people, Escobar stressed, focus on a specific process within a specific political framework, there is a lot of progress happening elsewhere through trade, bilateral channels, multilateral channels, and in all of them, the Western Balkans is succeeding. He pointed out that the policy of the United States is to encourage and support all initiatives that bring the region closer to Europe. “As long as the Western Balkans meets the requirements – the rule of law, open and transparent markets and inclusiveness, we will continue support,” said Escobar. Special Envoy of the United Kingdom for the Western Balkans, Sir Stuart Peach, stressed it is important for the European path of the region to continue, adding that the government of Great Britain supports this. “We must not allow political disputes to become security issues, particularly now that we have seen the Russian invasion, and now more than ever, we must not allow security issues,” said Peach, adding that support to the country’s Euro-Atlantic path will continue through export financing. Deputy PM for European Affairs Bojan Marichikj said the Western Balkans is still a turbulent region, and there is no lasting peace stability. According to him, EU enlargement is in crisis, because the last member to join was Croatia nine years ago. “We don’t know when the next enlargement will be, and the EU enlargement policy is the most successful stability policy,” said Marichikj. According to him, a time frame is needed to prepare for some obstacles such as the power of veto. “Whatever happens next week at the June summit and at subsequent summits with next presidencies, it is important that the Western Balkans is not forgotten by the EU and NATO. Let us not feel forgotten because we know that third countries will definitely enter the region more than they do now. We know Russian policy in the Western Balkans, it is not very substantial, but it is very clear. We want to overcome this perception only with strong policies,” Marichikj said.