Marta Kos

European Commissioner for Enlargement.
🇪🇺 Curious, optimistic, never giving up.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Today’s Çerkezköy–Kapıkule railway inauguration symbolizes the potential of EU–Türkiye cooperation.

It is the largest infrastructure project ever carried out under EU–Türkiye financial cooperation.

It brings people and businesses closer together. It creates an opportunity to strengthen mutual trust and advance good neighborly relations.

With President @RTErdogan and Transport Minister @a_uraloglu, I discussed the potential to building transport and energy links from the EU through Türkiye and the South Caucasus to Central Asia. It strengthens our trade ties, and provides greater resilience for us both.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Bulgaria is a gateway to Europe. A crucial connector to the Western Balkans and Türkiye.

At today’s Corridor VIII Ministerial, we discussed work to complete the missing transport links through Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Albania. This is key to strengthening cooperation in the Western Balkans and bringing the region closer to the EU.

In preparation for next year’s Connectivity Summit, I discussed with Prime Minister Radev, Foreign Minister Petrova and Transport Minister Peev how to strengthen our energy and trade links across the Black Sea and the South Caucasus.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

@eu_enlargement_ Read the whole Communication: https://t.co/p5ulCDsl9K

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Together with Member States, we have made more progress on enlargement in the last two years than in the past two decades.

It is now time to prepare for a larger Union.

This requires realism and pragmatism.

That is exactly what the Communication we published today brings.

A concrete assessment of the impact of enlargement on our Union.

And operational actions to guide our next steps.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Moldova is moving towards EU membership with strong determination, backed by concrete delivery on reforms.

Today, at our 10th Association Council, we released €157 million under the Growth Plan: support for roads, schools and more jobs, so Moldovans can build a better future at home.

Further delivery on reforms will bring more EU support and move Moldova closer to membership.

The pace of progress is already strong. Now it needs to be kept.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

When neighbours remember the wounds of the past together, they open the way to a shared future.

In Morinj, I joined Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister Ibrahimović and Croatia’s Foreign Minister Grlić-Radman to pay tribute to Croatian prisoners of war.

The EU was built by countries determined that past conflicts would no longer define their future. All of the Western Balkans can make that same choice.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

For the Western Balkans, a European future is becoming real for those delivering on their commitments.

At today’s Berlin Process meeting, I stressed enlargement in the region will mean a safer Europe and more economic growth for everyone.

We also spoke about what still holds progress back: unresolved bilateral issues and the wounds of the past.

Reconciliation and good neighbourly relations are a vital part of the work ahead.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

As Russia intensifies its terror, we are working with Ukraine and our partners to ensure strong and predictable support.

I met Finance Minister @SergiiMarchenk3 ahead of today’s Ukraine Donor Platform to take this work forward.

Financing and reforms go hand in hand. Ukraine’s progress on reforms will unlock another €2.9 billion under the Ukraine Plan. Further reform progress can open the way to more financing support.

The EU is doing its part. But meeting Ukraine’s needs is a shared effort. We need ambitious commitments from all partners.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Montenegro is now in the final stretch of its EU accession negotiations.

I had a call with Prime Minister @MickeySpajic to discuss the remaining steps.

To successfully conclude negotiations, it is crucial to preserve political unity and stability inside Montenegro, keep up the momentum to deliver the remaining reforms, and strengthen efforts to advance good neighbourly relations.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

As Member State ambassadors pay tribute at the Srebrenica Memorial Centre today, my thoughts are especially with the Mothers of Srebrenica.

They have endured unimaginable loss, yet remain among the strongest voices for reconciliation, rooted in truth, justice, remembrance, and the possibility of a different future.

The European Union was founded on that same belief: that even after the most terrible crimes, former enemies can choose to build a common future in which such suffering can never happen again.

That is the future the Western Balkans deserves and people can build.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Today, we took the decision to allow 80% of Armenian products to enter the EU without tariffs.

This is our response to Russia closing its market to Armenian producers and farmers following Armenia’s democratic choice to move closer to Europe.

The EU will continue to stand firm in its support for Armenia’s right to choose its own future.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Finland has a special place in the history of EU enlargement. In 1999, here in Helsinki, EU leaders set the Union on the path towards its biggest enlargement ever.

Today, we are again faced with the dual challenge of preparing candidate countries for membership and our Union to welcome them.

In Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen and Minister for European Affairs Joakim Strand, I found strong support to prepare for a bigger Union while our candidates progress based on their merits and reform progress.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

The EU and Norway are working together for a stronger Europe. We share the same determination to defend our interests, values and security.

Today, Foreign Minister @EspenBarthEide announced a contribution of NOK 1 billion (EUR 90 million) to our main instrument for support for Ukraine, the Ukraine Facility.

Together we are helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression, while supporting the reforms that will make Ukraine stronger and bring it closer to EU membership.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers is an impartial and independent judicial body.

Its judgments must be respected and the convicted have the right to appeal.

This is about individual accountability and justice for victims and their families from all communities in Kosovo.

I call on actors in the region to help heal the wounds of the past. Only through reconciliation can the countries of the region overcome divisions and advance towards a common future in the EU.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

We are moving closer to an enlarged European Union.

President von der Leyen announced in her State of the Union address that we will soon propose roadmaps for the most advanced candidates.

They will set out a clear priority list: timelines and deliverables to help the most advanced candidates complete the necessary reforms.

This clarity will help us prepare to seize the momentum of enlargement and strengthen our Union.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

The images we have seen last week do not represent Serbian society as a whole.

Numerous citizens from Serbia and the region wrote to me rejecting the glorification of war criminals.

That is why I know Serbia is much more.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

Hungary is a strong supporter of EU enlargement, in particular in the Western Balkans, and what it can deliver to benefit our citizens and strengthen our security.

I had good discussions with Prime Minister Péter @magyarpeterMP and Foreign Minister @_OrbanAnita today in Budapest.

I found a willingness to progress with our enlargement agenda based on candidate countries' individual merit and delivery on their commitments to our member states.

[Marta Kos @MartaKosEU]

The economic case for EU enlargement is strong: reforms bring investment, and investment boosts productivity & growth.

In the 2000s, enlargement added new growth engines in central and eastern Europe.

The IMF study presented today shows that this potential has not diminished.

https://t.co/QK4G7LWdJO