Sitemap

No Time Soon

EU Dashes Membership Hopes Of Balkan States

CorD Recommends

Milojko Arsić, Professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics

Capacities Exist, But So Do Unknowns

Despite Serbia’s administrative capacities being smaller compared...

Milorad Filipović, Professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics

The Plan Is Good, But Not Generous

The Western Balkan countries’ public investment needs...

Bojana Selaković, Coordinator of Serbia’s National Convention On the European Union

Responsibility Is In Our Court

Considering that the European agenda now prioritises...

Comment By Dragiša Mijačić

Will Janus Open or Close the Doors to Kosovo Serbs?

January is named after Janus, Roman god...

Serbia Advances in Renewable Energy with Pupin Wind Park Financing

In a significant stride towards renewable energy adoption, Serbia has finalized the financial arrangements for the Pupin Wind Park,...

Đedović Handanović: Nuclear Energy in Serbia by 2039 at the Earliest

Nuclear energy in Serbia could become a reality by 2039 at the earliest, should work on the project commence...

Sagrada Familia Completion Set for 2026

The Sagrada Familia, Barcelona's most iconic church, is slated for completion in 2026, over 140 years since its foundations...

Belgrade’s Hotel Jugoslavija Sold, Sparks Redevelopment Controversy

Belgrade's iconic Hotel Jugoslavija, located in Serbia's capital, has been sold for approximately €27 million to MV Investment, affiliated...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Kickstarts EU Membership Talks

Bosnia and Herzegovina has initiated accession negotiations with the European Union, a development hailed as a pivotal advancement for...

The six had been invited to the EU heads of state summit in Sofia, Bulgaria, as a gesture to reaffirm their path towards EU membership. Instead, the summit was notable for divisions on whether or not the bloc could cope with further enlargement in the foreseeable future.

The EU is keen to offer enticements to the six states, given worries about potential instability and the growing role of Russia in the region. Johannes Hahn, the commissioner for enlargement, has said on a number of occasions that the EU should “export stability” to the region to avoid “importing instability”.

Emmanuel Macron has emerged as the leading opponent of further EU expansion. “I think we need to look at any new enlargement with a lot of prudence and rigour,” the French president told journalists in Sofia. “The last 15 years have shown a path that has weakened Europe by thinking all the time that it should be enlarged.”

A declaration was adopted at the summit that offered support for the “European perspective” of the six Balkan countries but was noticeably lacking words about “accession” or “enlargement”.

Montenegro and Serbia have progressed furthest down the path to accession, with a potential joining date of 2025 mooted, though many view that as hopelessly optimistic. This month, a decision is due to be taken on whether to open talks that could lead to accession with Albania and Macedonia. The “European perspective” for the other two nations, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, is extremely vague and unlikely to be realised in the near future.

“The elephant was in the room, so we had to talk about it,” Edi Rama, the Albanian prime minister, said after emerging from a lunch with EU leaders which he described as “very argumentative” and “a fight”.

In most of the six Balkan states, opinion polls show a strong majority in favour of EU integration and the leaders are keen to bring home solid promises from the EU to show to their citizens.

Rama said he accepted that actual accession would not take place any time soon but said the path of integration was important for the hopes of young Albanians. “We need to give them a clear perspective that one day we’ll be in Europe,” he said.

In most of the six Balkan states, opinion polls show a strong majority in favour of EU integration and the leaders are keen to bring home solid promises from the EU to show to their citizens.

Rama said he emerged with some positivity that the EU could still open accession negotiations with his country and Macedonia in June, but he also compared the EU’s vague commitments to the communist promise of a bright future that was always just around the corner. “We lived for 50 years with a red horizon which we never reached. We don’t want to live with a blue horizon now,” he said.

Russia’s increasingly assertive foreign policy in the western Balkans is on the mind of European politicians and is also used by the political elites in the countries as a warning that they cannot wait for Europe forever.

“The EU is aware that it has strong competitors in the Balkans. There is no vacuum in international relations. If one pulls out or doesn’t want to act, somebody else will,” Srđan Darmanović, Montenegro’s foreign minister, told the Guardian earlier this month.

However, enlargement fatigue, plus in the Balkan states, mean that many in the EU are uneasy at the prospect of bringing in new members, especially at a time when the bloc has its own internal debates over how to deal with democratic backsliding in Poland and Hungary.

“With Hungary, Poland and Croatia going the way they are going, there is no appetite to import new countries with the same issues,” said a European diplomat working in one of the western Balkan nations. “But if you stop the EU integration process it’s very hard to revive it, and there is a lot to lose if you push the countries towards China and Russia.”

The diplomat described the Sofia summit as “an important message to the countries that they had better get their act together”. But the EU appears to be demanding unlikely levels of reform from a group of governments whose leaders have cracked down on the media and are linked with corruption scandals.

“They are willing to reform but only as long as it doesn’t touch their core interests,” said Florian Bieber, a political scientist focussing on the western Balkans.

There is also the issue of Macedonia’s name, which Athens contests owing to its similarity to northern regions of Greece. The two countries’ leaders met in Sofia and said they were close to agreeing on a deal on a new name for Macedonia. Then there is Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008 but which five EU countries do not recognise.

Rama said he accepted that actual accession would not take place any time soon but said the path of integration was important for the hopes of young Albanians. “We need to give them a clear perspective that one day we’ll be in Europe,” he said.

Related Articles

Bosnia and Herzegovina Kickstarts EU Membership Talks

Bosnia and Herzegovina has initiated accession negotiations with the European Union, a development hailed as a pivotal advancement for the Balkan country. This move,...

New ENEF II Fund to Propel Growth in Western Balkans

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced the introduction of the Enterprise Expansion Fund II (ENEF II), aimed at fostering the...

European Parliament Passes Groundbreaking AI Law

The European Parliament has adopted the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, aiming to safeguard fundamental rights, democracy, the rule of law, and ecological sustainability in...

Mariya Gabriel Endorses Horizon Europe’s Widening Measures to Bridge Research Gap Ahead of Bulgarian Premiership

Mariya Gabriel, set to ascend to Bulgaria's prime ministerial role in March, champions Horizon Europe's Widening measures as a key strategy to address Europe's...

European Parliament Members Endorse Western Balkan Reform and Growth Instrument

Members of the European Parliament's committees on foreign affairs and budget have officially adopted a stance on the Western Balkan Reform and Growth Instrument,...

European Banking Titans Surpass €100 Billion Profit Milestone Amid Rising Interest Rates

For the first time in history, Europe's banking behemoths have collectively breached the €100 billion profit ceiling, fueled by a significant uptick in interest...

Western Balkans Eye EU Membership by 2028

At the esteemed Munich Security Conference, a cornerstone event in global security discourse, leaders from North Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro have passionately renewed their...

EIB Global Channels Record €1.2 Billion into Western Balkans

EIB Global, the European Investment Bank's arm for non-EU activities, has made a landmark investment of €1.2 billion in the Western Balkans for 2023,...