Paris, 9 December 2021 (MIA) – French President Emmanuel Macron presented Thursday the country’s priorities during the six month EU Presidency in the first half of 2022, referring to the European Union’s big responsibility towards the countries of the Western Balkans, MIA reports from Paris. “The Western Balkans is our immediate neighborhood and a conference for the region will take place in June. The area is more than a neighborhood, the Balkans is the heart of Europe, one only has to look at the map and our history. This region is now seeing new tensions and we have a historic responsibility towards the Western Balkans,” said President Macron. According to him, the EU must reengage but also invest in the region’s economic integration. “Exchanges among people must enhance and we have to fight against interference and manipulation by regional forces that seek to destabilize Europe through the Balkans,” noted Macron. He said a peaceful and prosperous Europe cannot be built in the next 50 years if the Western Balkans is left as it is today. “The European perspectives must be clarified, reinvestment is needed in the region and its unity, in order to have a real common ambition for future decades,” added Macron.