Athens, 10 June 2022 (MIA) — "My message today is clear: In accordance with set criteria, let us offer the integration of all of the Western Balkans into the EU by 2033 — an ambitious but achievable timeline. This is long overdue. And the first step must be a decision in two weeks’ time in Brussels to unblock the path of North Macedonia and Albania," Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis writes in a Politico op-ed on Saturday ahead of the South-East European Cooperation Process summit in Thessaloniki. In the opinion piece, titled "It’s time to get European enlargement back on track," Greek PM Mitsotakis says the EU should fulfill its "Thessaloniki promise," recalling that in Thessaloniki in 2003, "the EU offered a political vision of belonging and proposed a process that would lead to the Western Balkans’ membership in the European family." "But in the almost 20 years that have passed," Mitsotakis writes, "accession processes have increasingly become more elaborate and demanding, and the vision has become blurry, fading in the eyes of frustrated and disillusioned citizens. "The EU keeps talking about a concrete commitment to the Western Balkans and expects complete fulfillment of its set conditions and reforms. However, the region interprets this as EU enlargement fatigue and a constant moving of goalposts. The war in Ukraine has only compounded the feeling that the EU’s focus is shifting." He says that EU member countries "must take the bold but necessary step to complete the political vision of 2003." "And we should do so in a historically and politically meaningful way, setting out at last a tangible and time-bound perspective to fulfill our promise. We need to build confidence that when the EU sets out a vision, it has the intent and the capacity to follow through," he writes. Noting that the Thessaloniki summit on June 10 comes less than two weeks from the EU-Western Balkans meeting in Brussels, and the European Council, where important decisions for the region and the bloc’s future could be made, Mitsotakis stresses that the EU needs "to be honest with itself and with the region." He highlights that "the Balkans, as many times before in its history, stands again on the frontline of competing spheres of influence — ominous tremors can be felt underneath the surface." "In the Balkans, as elsewhere, there are hostile actors seeking to undermine our efforts. They have a competing world view and aspirations that trample over human rights, the rule of law and fundamental freedoms. They use the language of resentment, revisionism and imperial nostalgia. They think they can crush the human spirit with bullying and military muscle. We can’t allow a vacuum to develop for such actors to operate in — one in which they think they can succeed," the Greek prime minister says. "Looking back," he continues, "the EU should be proud of all it has achieved. The European project is a unique experiment that’s proven to be the most successful guarantor of peace, stability, economic growth and social prosperity on the Continent. But the future won’t wait, and we can’t make time stand still — all life is evolution after all." "These will be the thoughts I’ll take with me from Thessaloniki to Brussels," Mitsotakis writes, adding that he believes the EU is ready to live up to the task of shaping Europe's future in a way that will ensure the stability and prosperity for generations to come. "It’s time to keep our Thessaloniki promise," he says at the end of his op-ed. mr/