(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 3 - Necessary reforms.
    In this sense, the Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib and the European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, advocated promoting decisions by qualified majority instead of unanimity in the areas of Defense and Foreign Affairs. They were "absolutely existential", in the words of Jourová, who anticipated that the right of veto will be one of the central topics of the discussions on enlargement.
    Others, she said, will be the future of Article 7 - the procedure that allows a member country's rights of membership to be suspended due to problems with the rule of law, open until now to Hungary and Poland - as well as the budget, given that it will be necessary for countries have the capacity to absorb European funds. "The EU is above all a union of values, not an ATM," Lahbib said, adding that the EU must energise its single market and reform its decision-making processes to react more agilely and "solve the problem of sometimes abusive vetoes".
    At a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Tuesday, the representatives of all the ten candidate countries for accession were included for the first time -- Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Turkey and Ukraine. Jourová also highlighted at that conference that this was "a good rehearsal" of what it would be like to debate with 37 members.
    Turkey became an EU candidate in 1999 - and has probably never been further away from membership than it is today.
    Theoretically, a candidate country can never become a member.
    Member states currently have differing priorities regarding the accession - with the war in Ukraine being one significant factor: A number of Danish MEPs for example, from the Greens in SF to ruling party Venstre expressed support for EU expansion to 30 countries or more. Morten L›kkegaard, the leading candidate for the governing party Venstre said he would like Ukraine, Moldova and North Macedonia to be the first to join the EU. He warned of a potential Russian influence post-Ukraine conflict and said he was opposed to Turkey's membership.
    "There's a 'before' and an 'after' to the war in Ukraine. If we don't get these countries on board, they will soon fall under Putin's clammy hand." Western Balkans still waiting.
    The Western Balkan region includes Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo.
    In Brussels, Montenegro is considered to be the furthest along in the accession process. EU enlargement is not expected until the end of the decade at the earliest. The EU has been conducting accession negotiations with Montenegro since 2012.
    In March, the EU decided to start accession negotiations with Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH). However, the first accession conference is only to be organised once the country has implemented unfulfilled reform requirements, for example in the fight against corruption and organised crime. Despite continuous efforts, promises, and significant progress, due to frequent internal political disagreements, BiH faces challenges on its path to EU membership.
    "Our generation is now faced with the task of defending and strengthening the European project of peace and freedom, even if it costs an incredible amount of energy," Baerbock said. She added that reforms are necessary for this to succeed. This would also include fewer veto options in the EU Council.
    North Macedonia has been an EU candidate for 17 years. In line with the EU's criteria for accession negotiations, the nation must fully embrace the EU acquis and push forward reforms, especially in areas like judicial reform and combating corruption and organised crime. Regional collaboration and positive neighbourly relations are crucial for North Macedonia's enlargement process. Efforts to engage inclusively in regional cooperation and uphold bilateral agreements, such as the Prespa Agreement with Greece and the Treaty on Good Neighborly Relations with Bulgaria, are pivotal.
    North Macedonia has pledged to enact constitutional amendments aimed at bolstering the rights of minorities. The focus is on integrating citizens, like Bulgarians, residing within the state's borders into the constitutional framework.
    The opposition however opposes the necessary constitutional changes, and parliament failed to secure the necessary majority for constitutional changes, stalling North Macedonia's European aspirations.
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    (The content is based on news by agencies participating in the enr, in this case BTA, CTK, dpa, EFE, FENA, Lusa, MIA, PAP, Ritzau, STA, Tanjug, TASR). (ANSA).