Speaking at the fifth edition of the EU Meets the Balkans Forum here on Friday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Velislava Petrova-Chamova said that in the current times of unprecedented transformation, old partnerships are challenged, while new partnerships are built. At the event, organized by the European Liberal Forum in cooperation with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the Atlantic Club of Bulgaria, the minister said that even after so many years of membership in the EU, political will and commitment to reform still define whether Bulgaria would be a successful Member State. She noted that the EU provides a strong partnership.

Petrova-Chamova said that the current international environment is undergoing profound transformation, with intensifying strategic competition. She added: “Dependencies are becoming more and more acute and difficult to overcome. Peace and economic stability cannot be taken for granted. And the ability to shape our own future as a continent, but also as a region in the Balkans, really requires leverage.”

The minister stated that modern day leverage requires stable partnerships based on value alignment; resilient societies; and access to technologies, to raw materials, and energy.

Commenting on Albania and Montenegro as candidates for EU membership, Petrova-Chamova said: “The deepest partnership within the continent is membership in the EU – the instrument that we discuss most, but in a way, we still use creatively the least. In Tivat in June, EU leaders reaffirmed that enlargement is a political priority, but it also needs to still follow the merit-based approach. These two are not in contradiction, and countries already show that the process could work. Montenegro is the closest and has demonstrated amazing political will and commitment to reforms and [is] aiming to close negotiations within less than a year. Albania has closed chapters at a pace that nobody really predicted. Really, if you look at the pace of opening and closing chapters of current accession countries compared to older ones, it is really impressive. What we are seeing here is that when there is genuine political will and commitment, the Union can deliver, and the process can deliver.”