The EU has confirmed its full commitment to the accession prospects of the Western Balkans. The geostrategic environment with Russia’s war in Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East threatens global security, underscoring the importance of the Western Balkans for the EU. However, apart from the encouraging words, no other signals were given, the European Newsroom platform, cited by Agerpres, comments in a meaningful article.

The leaders of the EU and the Western Balkans met in Brussels on December 13, a year after the summit in Tirana in 2022. The aim of the summit was to bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU by promoting political integration, creating future economic bases and by mitigating the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metzola, said on Wednesday that, compared to previous years, for the first time an agreement has been reached between EU member states on preparations for enlargement. Metsola also reminded that the EU executive commission recommended the conditional opening of accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

At a summit on December 14, European leaders decided to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, approved candidate status for Georgia and began negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina when the necessary level of compliance with the accession criteria is reached, and invited the Commission to submit a report by March to to make such a decision,” said the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, on the X platform.

He said on Wednesday that Western Balkan countries must complete several reforms before they can be accepted into the European Union. “We expect more reforms from them, especially in the area of ​​the rule of law, in the area of ​​the independence of the judicial system,” Michel said. However, the official added that there is “strong political determination” in the region to carry out the necessary reforms.

Prime Minister of Slovenia: “Enlargement should be considered in geopolitical terms”

Slovenia has long been a strong supporter of Bosnia and Herzegovina joining the EU, and Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob has said the country should be treated the same as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Ahead of Wednesday’s summit, Golob asked EU leaders to consider geopolitics and asked for a package of measures for EU candidate countries. “The issue of enlargement should be seen in geopolitical terms and (countries) should be seen as a package whenever possible,” he said.

On the way to Brussels, Golob stopped in Paris to meet with President Emmanuel Macron. When asked if Macron supports Slovenia’s initiative on Bosnia, he said that the answer to that question rests with Macron. “However, in principle, we have the same position on this,” said Golob.

Slovenia is part of the so-called “Friends of the Western Balkans” group, along with Austria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Slovakia, which is calling for stronger signals for the region.

Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that Bosnia and Herzegovina had received a strong political signal and a clear timetable for the start of accession talks in March next year. Plenkovic added that this is a great incentive for the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by President Borjna Krista, with whom he spoke during the day, to take more important steps in the next two months to fulfill the necessary criteria.

EU leaders made the decision unexpectedly quickly after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban waived his veto by abstaining, meaning he left the room during the vote.

Italy wanted a signal about Bosnia and Herzegovina

Italy also strongly supported the decision to open negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary accession criteria were met. Before the summit, Italy asked to give a “clear signal” to this country. It was not enough for Rome to state in a statement that “the EU is ready” to start negotiations with Sarajevo.

At the same time, the General Affairs Council, in its conclusions, welcomed the reform efforts undertaken by Bosnia and Herzegovina after being granted candidate status in December 2022. It was emphasized that important steps have been taken and commitments made to fulfill key priorities despite the negative developments. from the Republic of Srpska. Also, as stated, the Council called for continuing the necessary progress in terms of reforms and emphasized the importance of ensuring full compliance of all adopted laws with the EU acquis and European standards.

The head of the tripartite presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željko Komšić, speaking at the summit in Brussels, said that the implementation of 14 key priorities of the European Commission’s Conclusion of May 2019 is important for the further progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Several countries in line

The rest of the neighboring countries – Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – also have ambitions to join the EU, but face long and painstaking accession procedures.

Montenegro, considered the front-runner, began negotiations in 2012, followed by Serbia in 2014. However, both countries are far from fully aligning legislation and standards with EU norms.

Albania and North Macedonia began accession talks last year, more than a decade after they applied for membership.

The situation with Kosovo is complicated by the fact that five EU countries did not recognize its independence after Kosovo broke away from Serbia in 2008.

Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski said North Macedonia had completed the assessment process, which was confirmed by the EU, but “we all know what we still need to do.” North Macedonia still needs to amend its constitution to resolve a long-standing dispute with neighboring Bulgaria by adding a reference to the existence of a Bulgarian ethnic minority. He added that “the draft conclusions are very clear and we will certainly continue the reforms, as the process of amending the Constitution is inevitable,” he said ahead of the EU-Western Balkans summit in Brussels on Wednesday. “Now it depends on us, but the discussions will undoubtedly continue,” Kovachevsky concluded.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov said regarding the accession of North Macedonia to the EU that Bulgaria supports EU enlargement in the Western Balkans, but until now it has vetoed the accession of North Macedonia due to historical, cultural and linguistic disputes. Sofia demanded that Skopje implement the Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighborliness and Cooperation between the two countries and adopt constitutional amendments to include Bulgarians in the Constitution of North Macedonia. The amendments drafted by the government of North Macedonia have been widely discussed, but have not yet been adopted by the parliament.

Serbia agrees with the statement and opposes the sanctions imposed on Russia

“It’s good that we have the EU-Western Balkans summit because, in addition to the European political community, this is a new format in which we, the Western Balkans, can always speak openly, honestly and absolutely transparently with the EU leaders,” she told journalists. Prime Minister of Serbia Ana Brnabić.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, called on the countries of the Western Balkans to fully harmonize the EU’s foreign policy and security policy. He also referred to the application of sanctions, as Serbia refuses to accept those imposed against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, even though it is a candidate for accession. Brnabić said that Serbia agrees with the EU declaration regarding EU values. However, when it comes to sanctions against Russia, she said the Serbian people are against any sanctions, “because we suffered from sanctions in the 1990s. We believe that sanctions always put the most vulnerable sections of the population at risk,” Brnabich concluded.

Josep Borrell: “Keep promises, avoid disappointments”

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, complained about the slow progress of accession procedures.

“What we have to do is deliver on our promises, avoid disappointments and live up to expectations,” he said.

“The accession talks are part of our efforts to bring the Western Balkans together, but another part is to look at the economy,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after the meeting. “If we look at the economy of the Western Balkans, today it is about 35% of the EU average. In other words, there is a lot of untapped potential,” she said.

“Whether it is, for example, a photovoltaic solar plant in Albania or a railway in Montenegro. These are the projects we are promoting,” von der Leyen said. “And, finally, youth, the most precious part of our lives. In October, we were happy and honored to open a local office of the College of Europe in Tirana. I can report that so far 500 students have applied to come and study there next year. The European Union will finance 15 scholarships,” von der Leyen said.

Economic cooperation and specific investments in infrastructure such as roads, railways, Internet and power grids will stimulate the region’s economy. The Commission announced a new €680 million investment package for rail and renewable energy projects in the Western Balkans.

While these countries are still waiting to become EU members, citizens and businesses should “feel the positive effects of this interaction with the EU as soon as possible,” Michel said.

According to him, the EU would like to encourage “more investment” and “more economic development”.

However, the proposed fund, worth up to €6 billion, is stuck in an internal EU debate over revising the bloc’s common budget.