“ALDA – the European Association for Local Democracy – and the Local Democracy Agencies in the Western Balkans express their concern over the official five-year break from the European Union enlargement, announced recently by the European Commission and call for a persistent commitment to strengthened dialogue and cooperation with the candidate countries and potential candidate countries preparing to join the European Union, community of shared values and standards.

By the same token we call for a much stronger commitment of the governments in the Western Balkans to the democratic reform process by supporting good governance and citizen participation as well as to alignment with the political and economic European Union membership criteria.

There are many good reasons in support to keeping the momentum of strengthening the democratic legitimacy of the integration process in the Western Balkan countries, particularly in relation to the current severe financial and economic crisis.” […]