Today Undersecretary Ivan Scalfarotto has chaired a meeting on the Western Balkans held in conjunction with the Italian Ambassadors in the region. Emphasizing the deep signs of friendship addressed to Italy, which took concrete form in the shipment of devices and medical personnel, it was reiterated that it is important that our country ensures a concrete and effective response to the Covid-19 emergency in the region by the European Union.
“The integration process has to move on in a perspective of mutual interest”, is the Undersecretary’s hope. “The pandemic risks slowing down the complex path of institutional reforms that some countries are still developing. The EU’s ability to support the economy of these countries to emerge from the crisis will therefore be crucial for the future of European sentiment in the area”.
Recalling the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Zagreb on May 6th, Scalfarotto reiterated the centrality of an appointment that can “relaunch the enlargement process and, in this view, we must continue to work to transform renewed European solidarity into long-term support action”.
Eventually, he thanked the Foreign Ministry for its work. “This pandemic affects the whole of Europe and is a threat to everyone’s health. I thank the Ambassadors, the staff in our Embassies and their families for the commitment and sense of the institutions they have shown in dealing with this emergency”.
