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Western Balkan countries should maintain EU perspectives: Austrian banker

Xinhua, March 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

Governor of the National Bank of Austria (OeNB) Ewald Nowotny urged Western Balkan countries not to give up on EU accession despite a "certain fatigue" that now exists around future enlargement.

Speaking at the conference "Western Balkans -- 15 Years of Economic Transition"on Tuesday, Nowotny said there appears to be no immediate prospect for accession for the remaining states of former Yugoslavia, Austria Press Agency reported on Wednesday.

While he also acknowledged he holds European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's declaration before he took office that there would be no EU enlargement within the next five years as "very realistic", the central bank governor said "that does not mean you should give up on the European perspective."

And while it does reflect the general mood in the EU at the moment, it is still important for Western Balkan countries to implement necessary structural and institutional reforms, "because they are not doing it for the EU, but for themselves," Nowotny said. Endit