The road to integration is still long, but the countries of the Western Balkans are on the right track.
In essence, this was the message conveyed by the European Union at the end of the summit that brought together the leaders of the EU27 and the six Balkan countries in Brussels on Wednesday 18 December.
Although no political decisions were taken at the meeting, as the subject at the centre of the discussions was not enlargement - which the Commission and the Council of the EU had made clear - the summit was presented as an opportunity to take stock with the six countries of the progress made.
It also marked the new “dynamic” around EU enlargement, that the Commission wants to capitalise on over the next few years, hoping to be followed by the Member States.
“Enlargement is the most important geopolitical investment in peace, security and prosperity”, declared the President of the European Council, António Costa, a few minutes before the start of the meeting, echoing the remarks of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, for whom the integration of the Western Balkans is a marker of “European stability” in the face of the challenges brought by Russia.
The joint declaration, adopted at the end of the summit, stressed that “the geopolitical context in Europe demands unity and solidarity from us all”, but did not include a political declaration or specific ambitions for the rest of the process.
In essence, it takes up the conclusions on enlargement adopted by the EU27 at the end of Tuesday’s ‘General Affairs’ Council (see EUROPE 13546/3). In the annex, the European leaders list the technical “objectives and priorities” required of the Western Balkans in order to advance their accession process.
A two-speed process
The last few months have seen a number of advances made by certain candidate countries. Two intergovernmental conferences, on Monday 16 and Tuesday 17 December, enabled Albania and Montenegro to open and close chapters (see EUROPE 13547/2).
Tirana and Skopje have ratified a new security and defence partnership with the EU (see EUROPE 13528/6). On Tuesday, the Member States approved a letter inviting Serbia to submit its negotiating positions for Chapters 16 and 19, which are part of Cluster 3 (see EUROPE 13547/2).
And even if the targets set by certain candidate countries seem unattainable, such as Albania’s “conclusion of negotiations by the end of 2027”, they express a political will and a seriousness that seems to please the Commission.
However, behind the messages expressing Europe’s willingness to see the Western Balkans join the EU lie a number of obstacles, particularly with regard to border relations in the region and with certain Member States.
When she arrived at the meeting, the leader of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, was very angry and vigorously denounced what she considered to be a double standard in European discourse: “Kosovo is one of the most pro-European countries, yet our application is still in a drawer somewhere and has not even been examined. Serbia on the other hand - look, the more pro-Russian, pro-China, pro-Iran you are, the more progress you make, the more clusters you can open and chapters you can close. That’s the message being sent to the people of Kosovo, and it has nothing to do with merit”, she fumed.
Ms Osmani-Sadriu, whose country has difficult relations with Serbia, denounced the actions of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, insisting that Belgrade was “endangering the stability of the Balkans” and, by extension, “the EU as a whole” by maintaining ambiguity with regard to Russia (see EUROPE 13477/10).
For his part, the Serbian leader said that the summit would be an opportunity to “respond to the lies that some people are going to tell”. He was also optimistic that the 3rd negotiating Cluster could be opened by “the end of January”.
At the end of the meeting, the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, tried to reassure Kosovo about its European prospects, assuring it that the Commission was “ready” to open negotiations, but needed “unanimity” within the EU Council to do so.
António Costa recalled the “remaining challenges” both at bilateral and regional level. “We have heard the frustrations of the region and we believe we can overcome them”, he said.
The meeting continued in the evening with a working dinner between the leaders.
To see the declaration adopted: https://aeur.eu/f/evp (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)