Bojana Zorić on the role of the Western Balkans in European defence

"If the Western Balkans demonstrate that they are capable of contributing to European defence and security – to the extent they are entitled to – I believe this can only strengthen the level of trust among individual Member States," said Bojana Zorić to The New Union Post.

Commenting on the White Paper on Defence Readiness 2030 and the ReArm Europe initiative, Bojana underlined that several Western Balkan countries could play a meaningful role in European defence, with the EU potentially benefiting from the region's expertise in the production of small arms and ammunition. She also reminded that while the doors for joint procurement have been left open to Western Balkan countries, the practical implications of how this will be done still remains to be seen.

"One of the main challenges in defining relations within joint procurement initiatives concerns market access. This remains a work in progress for candidate countries, which do not yet have the same level of standards", concluded Bojana.