EU’s mixed message to W Balkan membership hopefuls
EU DIVISION about welcoming new members from the Western Balkans into the bloc resulted in mixed messages at a summit in Slovenia, with promises once again of cash, but no quick accession prospects.
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia would all like to join the prosperous bloc - doing so would grant them access to the single market and freedom of movement - but did not get an indication of concrete progress on Wednesday.
With the 27 EU leaders meeting the heads of the six membership hopefuls, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for clear messages of encouragement. But she also stressed that further reforms on the rule of law, judiciary independence and press freedom were needed.
“The European Union is not complete without the Western Balkans,” the German politician and EU executive branch head told reporters at Brdo Castle near Ljubljana, “There cannot be any doubt that our goal is enlargement.” In a joint statement signed at the talks, the 27 EU states reaffirmed in writing for the first time their commitment to the stalled enlargement process first put on the cards almost 20 years ago. But no specific date was foreseen.
Leaders also stressed the need to focus on developing the 27-state union as it currently exists and for candidate countries to implement reforms, in a declaration re ecting the different schools of thought on when the six states should join.
Von der Leyen said frustration about the lengthy process to join the EU had been palpable in her recent tour of the region.
“The EU has to deliver,” she said. In particular, the failure to start formal accessions negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania was jeopardizing the bloc’s standing, said von der Leyen.
Latvian Prime Minister Arturs Karins, whose own country joined along with seven other former communist states in 2004, warned that “either Europe extends the hand and pulls these countries towards us, or someone else will extend the hand and pull the countries in a different direction.”
Russia, China, and Turkey are investing heavily in the region. Von der Leyen said the EU must show it is the “favourite partner” of the six Western Balkan states. All save Albania were part of communist Yugoslavia, which was dissolved in the early 1990s.
In order to encourage reform efforts, Brussels is offering some 1.1 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) in EU funds this year alone through an investment plan, the declaration explained. The commission is also to propose a new package of 600 million euros within this fund, according to the text. In total, about 30 billion euros are to be mobilized for the region over the next seven years.
Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, pushed unsuccessfully to have 2030 named as a goal in the document, but failed to get other member states on board with the idea.
The European Union is not complete without the Western Balkans Ursula von der Leyen