Croatia and Bulgaria are advocating the integration of Southeast Europe into the European Union because they are concerned about the situation in the region, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović said in Sofia on Wednesday after meeting with her Bulgarian counterpart Rumen Radev.

“Together we are advocating the European perspective of Southeast Europe to ensure the security, stability and lasting prosperity of all the countries in our neighbourhood,” Grabar-Kitarović told a joint news conference.

Bulgaria currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU and one of its priorities is strengthening the EU membership prospects of the Western Balkans. The matter will be discussed at a summit in Sofia in May by all six countries aspiring to join the bloc.

The next EU president is Austria, whose new prime minister, Sebastian Kurz, is also a staunch advocate of EU enlargement to the Western Balkans. After Vienna, the EU helm will be taken by Romania, while Croatia will hold the EU presidency in the first half of 2020. Efforts to maintain the continuity of enlargement policy with regard to the Western Balkans was one of the topics discussed by Radev and Grabar-Kitarović.

“We are concerned about the situation in Southeast Europe because a vacuum is being created which, unfortunately, is being filled by some third parties that have different interests. That’s why we need a strong policy of enlargement and consolidation in this region and that will certainly be one of the priorities of the Croatian presidency of the Council of the EU as well,” Grabar-Kitarović said.

“I am a little discouraged by developments over the last few years. I think the process has slowed down. On the one hand, there is enlargement fatigue, and on the other hand, there is reform fatigue. I think the reform processes should be strengthened,” she said, adding that European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and EU leaders, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, had recently issued positive signals about enlargement and that it was very important “to maintain the momentum.”

Radev said that the Croatian-Bulgarian cooperation was very important in this regard because the two countries are situated on each end of “the vulnerable region” of the Western Balkans. “Bulgaria has managed to put the EU’s focus back on the problematic region of the Western Balkans. Unless we give a European perspective to the Western Balkans, sooner or later this region will give a Balkan perspective to Europe, I have always said this to EU leaders,” he said.