A 6 billion-euro ($6.5 billion) development plan for the Western Balkans is a clear signal of the European Union's commitment to the economic and democratic transformation of the Western Balkans, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic said on May 16 at a summit of the region's six leaders.
The European Union approved the plan -- 2 billion euros in grants and 4 billion euros in loan guarantees -- in November to help the countries of the Western Balkans accelerate reforms and economic growth.
The plan envisaged by the EU is meant to speed up both the region's economic growth and its integration with the EU norms and legislation that would eventually bring membership in the bloc.
European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelji said at the last summit of Western Balkan leaders that the development plan could double the region's economic output over the next decade if timely reforms are implemented.
The "growth plan is no longer a draft, it is a reality we have started to implement," Varhelji said at a news conference at the summit on May 16 in Kotor, Montenegro.
"Because of the development plan and the intensity of aid from the economic and investment plan, the reform agenda, and additional financial aid until 2027, the Balkans will be ready...or could make itself ready to join the EU," said Varhelji.
SEE ALSO: EU Envoy Urges Faster Reform Pace In Western Balkans, Touts 6 Billion Euro Development PlanU.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia James O'Brien, who also took part in the summit, said the priorities of the plan are to reduce costs, facilitate market movement, and create jobs.
O'Brien added that access to the Single European Payment Area (SEPA), an EU payment initiative aimed at simplification of bank transfers in euros, would reduce the cost of transfers by as much as 7 percent.
"This will reduce the cost of borrowing, which will allow businesses to expand," O'Brien said.
Borjana Kristo, president of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia-Herzegovina, said that there is consensus in her country that the main foreign policy goal is the path to joining European Union, while Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti confirmed his commitment to reforms that need to be implemented under the plan.
Kurti also called on Serbia to prosecute those responsible for last year's deadly attack by armed Serbs on Kosovar police officers in the village of Banjska in northern Kosovo.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that the growth plan will bring good results to the region. Belgrade is the single-largest recipient of the plan.
"We appreciate and are grateful for the money, but more important than the money are the structural reforms that we have to implement, and we appreciate that very much."
He also said he is convinced that the countries of the region will not enter the EU before Ukraine.
"My intelligence tells me that it will be like that," he said, adding that he knows that the EU is "very popular in your countries," but "not so much in mine."