September 16, 2021

The Western Balkans’ long wait as EU candidates

topic:	Democracy
located:	Macedonia, The former Yugoslav Republic of, Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro
editor:	Katarina Panić

The path towards membership in the European Union is painfully slow. The last time a new country integrated into the bloc was in 2013, when Croatia was admitted. Besides Turkey, which began its induction process in 1987, six Western Balkan countries are also on the waiting list; Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia have candidate status, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are potential candidates.

Last week, the outgoing German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, visited Serbia and Albania, meeting the leaders of all six Balkan countries. At the press conference in Belgrade, Merkel stated that there is an absolute geostrategic interest for existing EU members for the Western Balkans to join the bloc, and there is still a long way to go for aspiring countries. 

"We see […] that there is also influence from many other regions of the world," Merkel told a joint press conference with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, alluding to Russia, China and Turkey, whose approach for enticement is offering bonuses without asking for reforms.

After the meeting with Merkel, Bosnia’s Prime Minister, Zoran Tegeltija, responded that "the EU is creating the illusion of an open enlargement policy while keeping the prospects for accession as far away as possible. Changing such a policy would be an impetus for the dynamization of reforms." 

Coincidentally or not, on the same day that Merkel began her two-day farewell visit to the Western Balkans, the Hungarian pro-government daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet published an interview with the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi.

In this interview, Várhelyi argued that "the Afghan crisis has shown that it has serious consequences if we are not strong and consistent enough in our geopolitical choices.” The commissioner went on to state that the EU was “also present in Afghanistan because of such a geopolitical decision, and [it] failed. […] However, the Western Balkans are geographically much closer to us than Afghanistan. It follows that Europe's number one choice must be to integrate the region. We must keep our promises to the Western Balkans! For me, this is one of the most important lessons of the Afghan situation."

The next EU-Balkans summit will take place next month, butatigue from the enlargement process does no good to anyone. Last year, Brexit demonstrated that there is also an opposite direction - one which will be debated in Hungary and Poland this year, as it was in Greece a decade ago.

Photo by Guillaume Périgois

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