EU warned: Don't give up on the Western Balkans, Serbia and Montenegro are "mature"

Talking to reporters, Kovacs warned the EU against further abandoning the Western Balkans strategy and indicated that China has its own strategy for the region.
"We know from the past that there have always been problems if no attention is paid to the Balkans", he said, adding that he sees the region's biggest security problems in religious extremism in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Therefore, he added, the EU must devote itself to the region.
Kovacs praised Hungarian candidate for European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy, former Hungarian Justice Minister Laszlo Trcsnyi. "The enlargement strategy plays a key role for us. A united Europe is not yet finalized," Kovacs said.
He indirectly said, when asked by journalists, that taking over the enlargement agenda was part of an agreement for Hungary to support Ursula von der Leyen as Chairman of the European Commission.
Kovacs concluded that if Trcsnyi does not get appointed in the European Parliament, that would not present a problem, as every state has alternative candidates. He also encouraged the start of accession negotiations with Northern Macedonia.