Germany's Merz pledges support for EU accession of West Balkan states

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday called for the Western Balkan states to be granted quick accession to the European Union.

"Your accession to the EU is what we want," Merz said at the start of a summit with the leaders of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia in Montenegro.

"You can count on Germany’s and my personal support."

At the same time, Merz called on the six countries to implement further reforms.

"We as the EU have delivered, but you have to deliver, too. The reforms and the political will must come from you," he said.

The six Western Balkan states are at different stages of the long-winding EU accession process, with most of them having waited for years to join the bloc.

Montenegro is expected to be the first to be admitted, with negotiations due to be concluded next year.

The summit, held in a villa on the Adriatic Sea, is part of the Berlin Process, a format launched by then German chancellor Angela Merkel in 2014 to promote the six countries' integration into the EU.

In June, Germany and France launched a new initiative to speed up the accession process.

In a joint position paper, the two countries called for initial integration measures to be implemented even before full membership, in order to create incentives for reform.

Under the plan, meeting certain accession criteria would be rewarded, for example, with privileged access to the EU single market or the secondment of observers to EU institutions.