The fall of the Berlin Wall has been the largest success of the EU in bringing back together the East and Western Europe, but it will not be finished off until the countries of the Western Balkans join the Union, head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert said Monday.

Bringing back together the East and Western Europe “is not a finished job” because some Southeast Europe countries, in the Western Balkans, are still outside the EU, Degert told Tanjug on the occasion of Europe Day, which will be celebrated on May 9. “Some of them (Western Balkan countries) are joining (the EU), others, I hope, will continue on the right path,” he added.

Degert believes there is the urgency of establishing reconciliation and solidarity between the countries of the Western Balkans, adding that he has seen many changes in that regard taking place in the period of seven years he has been living in Serbia. “The issue of facing the past is not an easy one for anybody, for our (the EU's) member states and, of course, not for Serbia or the neighboring countries,” Degert said.

“But that is the only way,” he stressed, adding that if we wanted “to exist tomorrow in the world, in the challenging world we are facing, we have to solve our problems from the past and face the challenges of the future,” said Degert. He announced a series of manifestations to celebrate Europe Day, marking 62 years since the forming of the European community, which will be held in Belgrade, Sremska Mitrovica, Loznica, Novi Sad and Nis.

The event was introduced in 1985, when the EU predecessor, the European Communities, decided to hold their Europe Day on May 9 every year in commemoration of the same date in 1950 when then-French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman proposed to place the coal and steel industries of France and West Germany, then enemies, and other countries under a common authority. The event is considered a symbol of fostering peace and unity in Europe.