Berlin, 20 June 2022 (MIA) – Austria’s Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg hopes that the European Union Summit will not only send a clear signal to the east, but also to the southeast of Europe. According to Schallenberg, Ukraine is not in competition with the Western Balkan countries. It is more a question of the EU’s credibility, he adds, to achieve progress for the states of Southeast Europe, which got the Union’s word in Thessaloniki 19 years ago. Schallenberg also commented on granting EU candidate status to Bosnia and Herzegovina and to Kosovo. “I have a feeling that we’re losing the Balkans,” the Minister said. Schallenberg noted that in Serbia, the mood towards the EU is more negative than before. “This is not Europe’s backyard, but the center. So, we have to act. This is our most important strategic task that we have before us,” he stressed. He believes that by involving the Balkan countries in the EU Councils and in the funds, it can be clearly shown that they are about to join the EU. “I don’t understand why China is buying highways in the region, and we are watching it. Sometimes I just don’t understand our logic,” said Schallenberg. He added “if we act strongly in Ukraine and Moldova, we must also act strongly in the Western Balkans.”