News: Draghi: accelerate EU enlargement

During a speech in the European Parliament, Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, stressed the need to speed up the EU enlargement process in order to facilitate the entry of Ukraine, Albania and North Macedonia and to give new impetus to the negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro. The President also stated that "Italy supports the immediate opening of accession negotiations" as "the full integration of countries that manifest European aspirations does not pose a threat to the stability of the European project" as a "part of its realization". This statement seems to contradict what the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luigi di Maio, said during an interview on March 12. He declared that "the issue of Ukraine must be dealt with as quickly as possible, but in full respect of the treaties" and that Italy "is not ready to commit itself to recognize or candidate status for accession".