The leaders of the EU Member States expressed their commitment to the Western Balkans region at the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brdo pri Kranju on Wednesday 6 October.
Thus, in the declaration they adopted, which was endorsed by their counterparts in the six countries of the region, the leaders reiterated their “unequivocal support” for the region’s European perspective and their commitment to the enlargement process and the decisions taken in this framework “based upon credible reforms by partners, fair and rigorous conditionality and the principle of own merits”.
“This region is of strategic importance for the EU”, said European Council President Charles Michel at the end of the summit, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that “the Western Balkans belong to the EU [...] we are one European family”. “We share the same history, the same values, and we are convinced that we share the same destiny, too”, she added.
“The EU should keep enlarging, [...] it lacks the Western Balkans. I am critical, it could have been better, but I am still hopeful that the EU remains faithful to its essence, which is enlargement”, said Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
Janez Janša calls for a timetable
While the mention of 2030 as the deadline for the region’s accession to the EU was not included in the final declaration, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, who hosted the summit, said he would have liked to see a timetable proposed “to foresee the different stages for the next decade”. He recalled that this had been the case for the countries that joined the EU in 2004 and that this had allowed these countries to know how much time they had to carry out various reforms, making it an additional incentive to carry out these reforms.
For Latvian Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, as for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it is not a question of dates, but of reforms. “I don’t really believe in setting dates, I believe in keeping our promises: once the conditions are met, accession can take place”, the latter explained.
In the declaration, the EU welcomes the Western Balkans’ commitment to the primacy of democracy, fundamental rights and values, and the rule of law, as well as their willingness to continue their efforts in the fight against corruption and organised crime and to support good governance, human rights, gender equality, and the rights of persons belonging to minorities. “The credibility of these commitments depends on the effective implementation of the necessary reforms and the establishment of a solid track record supported by clear and consistent public communication”, the statement warns.
“The Western Balkan countries have come a long way, they have made many reforms. There is still work to be done on the judiciary, the media... but we must recognise the efforts made”, said Ms von der Leyen. According to Mr Michel, EU and Western Balkan leaders agreed to intensify their work on fundamental values, the rule of law and the fight against corruption.
Advancing the accession process
Despite progress, progress in the accession process is limited. “We are committed to the full integration and accession of the Western Balkans to the EU and therefore we have to take our responsibilities and decisions leading to that, i.e. to open the first intergovernmental conference with North Macedonia and Albania, to open clusters (of chapters) of (accession) negotiations with Serbia, to speed up our work for Bosnia and Herzegovina to become a candidate country, and to grant visa-free access to Kosovo”, summarised Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi.
According to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, “we must give a credible continuation to the accession process, but to do so, we must work on our own”. “The candidate countries must continue with reforms and solve the problems among themselves [...] and on the side of the EU, the Member States, we must be ready to meet our commitments”, he told EUROPE.
Mr Borrell, like Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, expressed dismay at the Bulgarian stonewalling to the adoption of the negotiation box for North Macedonia and, by extension, Albania. “This is a problem that has been dragging on for too long, without, in my opinion, a reason that justifies this delay”, Mr Borrell told EUROPE. Mr Rutte said he was “really unhappy” that accession negotiations with North Macedonia were still stalled, hoping for progress after the Bulgarian elections, scheduled for mid-November. However, for Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, it is not so much about the elections as it is about reaching an agreement on the conditions his country imposed on Skopje.
Mr Michel said the leaders would intensify their work on conflict resolution. “We have had the opportunity to say that we want progress to be made, we are ready to take our share of responsibility”, he promised, adding that political will was needed in the countries concerned to make progress.
“Decisive efforts are required to foster reconciliation and regional stability, as well as to find and implement definitive, inclusive and binding solutions to partners’ bilateral disputes and issues rooted in the legacy of the past”, the Brdo statement specifies. For her part, Ms von der Leyen recalled that “dialogue, the will to solve problems, and the ability to tackle difficult issues are at the heart of the European Union”.
“Our wish is really to be able to give the Balkans, which are within Europe, a short-term perspective. But today, we have a sort of return of history and great tensions, we must respond with political commitment and investment”, added French President Emmanuel Macron.
The EU as a key partner in the region
For, beyond the issue of enlargement, the summit discussions focused on EU support for the region. “The EU is by far the region’s closest partner, main investor, and principal donor”, the statement said, adding that this support needs to be fully recognised and reflected by the Western Balkan countries in their public debate and communication.
“It is important to make clear to the Western Balkans how much we care about them and that we are their favourite partner”, said the European Commission President, while Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that if the Europeans let go of the Balkans, “other powers would go” to the region. Russia, China, and Turkey are interested in the region.
As evidence of the EU’s interest: the European Commission has launch a €9-billion economic and investment plan for the region, which is expected to mobilise up to €30 billion, equivalent to one third of the region’s GDP. The more economically integrated the region is, the stronger the implementation will be.
The declaration therefore stresses the need to make further efforts in implementing the creation of the regional common market, which, according to Ms von der Leyen, could be as beneficial as the internal market is for the EU. The leaders also pledged to increase their efforts to further integrate the Western Balkans into the EU’s single market.
The declaration also confirms the EU’s support for the Balkan region in the fight against Covid-19. While this support was slow at the start of the pandemic, since then the EU has already provided 2.9 million doses of vaccine, according to the statement. “The EU will support the vaccination plans of all partners to help reach similar vaccination rates to the EU average by the end of 2021”, the statement notes. In addition, the EU and Member States have provided economic and health support to the region amounting to €3.3 billion.
Also, in the margins of the summit, a specific programme for the Western Balkans in the fields of innovation, research, education, culture, youth, and sport—the so-called ‘Western Balkans Innovation Programme’—was launched.
EU and Western Balkan leaders have agreed to hold a new summit in 2022.
See the statement: https://bit.ly/2YoPJ8i (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Léa Marchal)