Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited Slovenia on Friday, ending a two-day tour which included visits to Croatia and Austria.

During talks with his Slovenian counterpart Robert Golob, Sánchez said that one of the priorities of Spain’s six-month presidency of the EU will be devoting attention to EU enlargement to the Western Balkans.

This was also a topic of his talks in Zagreb.

“A relevant issue for Spain will be the enlargement of the EU to the Western Balkans,” read a press release issued by the Office of the Spanish Prime Minister after his meeting with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Zagreb.

Sanchez recalled that significant progress was made during Croatia’s presidency of the EU in 2020 with regard to Albania and North Macedonia, which, according to him, culminated last year when accession negotiations were opened with the two Southeast European countries. Spain has expressed its willingness to continue working on this as well as on the candidacy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a key factor for the stability of the region, Sánchez’s office said in the press release.

The Socialist prime minister plans to visit 15 EU member states to exchange opinions with his counterparts, before officially announcing the list of priorities for Spain’s six-month presidency of the EU which it will take over from the current president, Sweden on 1 July.

Efforts invested in the EU enlargement process have started fading away in recent years because some of the wealthy, mostly northern countries, which contribute more to the joint budget, are not inclined toward further enlargement.

But the war in Ukraine and the strained relations between Brussels and Moscow reopened the issue of EU enlargement even to countries like Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia that did not have candidate status.

Croatia joined the EU in 2013, and the bloc has not expanded since. Moreover, the United Kingdom left the Union in 2020.