EU offers closer economic ties with Western Balkans
TIRANA, Albania – Leaders from the European Union offered a new growth plan to the Western Balkans at a summit in Albania’s capital on Monday, opening parts of the EU single market and asking for deep-rooted reforms ahead of membership in the bloc for the six countries of the region.
The main topics at the annual talks – called the Berlin Process – are the integration of the Western Balkans into the single market and supporting their green and digital transformation. The nations in the region are Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
The senior EU officials attending the summit in Tirana were European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel. They were joined by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
French President Emmanuel Macron did not join the summit, due to the recent incident when a teacher was fatally stabbed and three people wounded in a school attack in northern France. He was represented by State Secretary Laurence Boon.
The six Western Balkan countries are at different stages of integration into the bloc. Serbia and Montenegro were the first Western Balkan countries to launch membership negotiations a few years ago, followed by Albania and North Macedonia last year, while Bosnia and Kosovo have only begun the first step of the integration process.
The EU has made it a requirement for Western Balkan countries to reform their economies and political institutions before joining, including by improving the regulatory structure for business, fighting corruption and stamping out organized crime.
Scholtz said “the Berlin process is the best instrument to not only unleash the full potential of regional cooperation, but also to speed up the integration of all Western Balkan countries.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine has put integration of the Western Balkans into the EU at the top of the 27-nation bloc’s agenda. The EU is trying to reinvigorate the whole enlargement process, which has been stalled since 2013, when Croatia became the last country to join.
Von der Leyen mentioned a new growth plan for the Western Balkan countries: opening new trade routes in specific areas of the EU’s common market for the Balkan countries such as the free movement of goods and services, road transport, energy, electricity and the digital single market. The six countries need to implement quick reforms that in turn will be accompanied by investment.
The EU has already mobilized 16 billion euros ($16.8 billion) for investment in the region out of 30 billion euros ($31.5 billion) pledged three years ago.
“We really have to tap into the potential that is here in the Western Balkans and get it closer to the European single market,” she said.
A bitter dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, a former Serbian province that declared independence in 2008, remains a great concern. EU officials have urged the Balkan countries to overcome regional conflicts and stand together as Russia wages war in Ukraine.
“Any progress you make on the common regional market will bring you significantly closer to EU standards,” said Scholtz.