New President of the European Commission: A five-year pause in EU enlargement!

There will be no new enlargement of the European Union in the next five years, but we will continue negotiations with the Western Balkan countries, which need a European perspective, stated the new President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker today before the European Parliament, reports the BH news agency Patria (NAP).

The European Parliament today elected Juncker as President of the Commission by secret ballot. He will take office on November 1, 2014, for a five-year term.

- The European Union must take a pause in enlargement in order to consolidate with its 28 member states - said Juncker. The last member state to join was Croatia. Serbia and Montenegro are negotiating for membership, while Macedonia and Albania have candidate status. Bosnia and Herzegovina is only a potential candidate and is already far behind.

Juncker needed the support of a majority of MEPs (376) to take office. 422 MEPs voted for him. For the first time in the history of the EU, the European Parliament elected - and did not just approve - the President of the European Commission at the proposal of the European Council, in accordance with the rules of the Lisbon Treaty.

Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, was the candidate of the European People's Party, the party that won the most seats in the EP, for the position of President of the Commission.

The elected President of the European Commission will send an official letter to the leaders of the member states inviting them to nominate their candidates for the members of the Commission, reports NAP.