Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the Foreign Affairs Council on 24 June, I met with my counterparts from the western Balkans to discuss shared challenges for Europe in foreign and security policy. The EU and the western Balkans have built up a positive track record of co-operation in foreign and security policy. We discussed the region’s high rate of Common Foreign and Security Policy, CFSP, alignment, and the important contribution that armed forces from the western Balkans are making to EU Common Security and Defence Policy missions. Western Balkans Ministers noted that aligning with CFSP comes at a cost, including increased risk of hybrid attacks. We agreed that in that context, initiatives such as the new growth plan for the western Balkans are needed and justified.

Ireland believes that the EU and western Balkans countries need to intensify their co-operation to tackle global challenges, such as support for Ukraine’s defence against Russian aggression, and the security consequences of climate change. Our new embassies in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Chisinau, to open in 2025, will enable us to increase our engagement across the region. It is essential that attempts by external actors to undermine the peace and progress that have been carefully built in the western Balkans do not succeed. Missions such as EUFOR Althea and KFOR, where Irish Defence Forces serve, continue to play an essential role.

At this week's Foreign Affairs Council, I also emphasised that parties within the region must utilise the dialogue channels open to them to comprehensively resolve disputes. I made it very clear at this meeting with the western Balkans countries that Ireland will continue its strong support for the EU membership perspective of countries in the region in accordance with the established criteria. Montenegro seems to be making particular progress, and North Macedonia as well.

See this speech in context