An EU-Western Balkans summit took place in Tirana this week. Surprisingly, this is the first time the summit has been held in the Western Balkan region itself. We take a trip to Tirana to judge what, if anything, has changed.
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Key topics under discussion on Tuesday (6 December) included the consequences of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, greater political and policy engagement, defence and security coordination, and the challenges posed by high numbers of migrants.
A show of unity
Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, was pleased to welcome “the gods of the European Union” to the Albanian capital, as our German member station AMS reports.
Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania (in English):
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“I told our European friends who we are hosting today, I told them that in our Kanun, in our first written code, the house of an Albanian belongs to God and the guest. But guess what? Today we had guests who, in Albania, are considered gods: the gods of the European Union!”
Indeed, certain Western Balkan nations have been praying for EU accession for almost twenty years now.
EU leaders still have a long list of demands: a common approach towards Russia, the settling of regional disputes, respect for the rule of law and a series of other reforms, including in the field of migration.
So, is this just another chinwag or are the Balkan nations edging closer to membership of the Union? German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has long been a proponent of enlargement, sees a new momentum.
Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany (in German):
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“I feel certain that a new movement has come about that really includes everyone. And that the scepticism that was still being expressed by several member states a few years ago has now shifted towards a willingness to actively drive this forward. And, of course, to always follow up on the very concrete points and to monitor progress. But the mood is different now than it was a year ago. That’s a change for the better.”
Let’s get this show on the road
Scholz’s is not the only voice in the EU to be calling for movement on this issue.
Florent Marciacq is an expert on EU enlargement – and the Western Balkans in particular – at the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, a left-leaning think tank in Paris. He tells euradio that this region has already caught the eye of both Moscow and Beijing and that, in this context, the demands the EU is placing on the Balkan nations are too high.
Florent Marciacq, Fondation Jean-Jaurès (in French):
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“We must not kid ourselves. If the European Union is waiting for all the Balkan states to become little Switzerlands, then none of the states in the region will be able to join the EU. We have to prepare ourselves, for a variety of reasons – geopolitical reasons, reasons of regional stability – for the possibility that the EU will, at some point, have to incorporate countries that are not ready.”
- euradio.fr – Florent Marciacq – Balkans occidentaux : la difficile intégration européenne (partie 2)
And back in the Balkans, our colleagues at Latvijas Radio speak to Ardian Haçkaj, the director of ShtetiWeb.org, the public policy platform for Tirana-based think tank the Cooperation and Development Institute.
Haçkaj challenges the very narrative that surrounds the Western Balkans’ accession process, given the region’s geographical position in the heart of Europe.
Ardian Haçkaj, Director of ShtetiWeb.org (in English):
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“It doesn’t make sense for the European Union to enlarge into the Balkans. The narrative is wrong. I mean, the Balkans are in the middle of the EU.”
He also points out that the total population of the six countries in question amounts to just 17 million people – a drop in the proverbial ocean – before highlighting all the ways in which the Western Balkan nations are, to all intents and purposes, ‘EU-ready’.
Ardian Haçkaj, Director of ShtetiWeb.org (in English):
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“We are already part of the EU economy. The [foreign direct investment] is mostly from the EU, trade is mostly overwhelmingly EU, emigration is overwhelmingly EU. Our normative system, our laws are 100-per-cent EU – it’s ‘acquis communautaire’. […] Two countries in the Western Balkans – Kosovo and Montenegro – have adopted the euro, while Bosnia and North Macedonia have their money stacked with the euro. So we are 100 per cent… our banking system is owned by the EU. I mean, it is only some kind of, I don’t know, fancy concept – this being a member or not.”
Slovenian PM Robert Golob strongly supports Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU membership aspirations, as well as visa liberalisation for Kosovo. He thinks both things can and should be progressed quickly, says RTV SLO.
Robert Golob, Prime Minister of Slovenia (in Slovenian):
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“I’m an optimist. On behalf of Slovenia, I will insist that this important decision is taken as early as next week. Today we are sending a message in a joint declaration. Next week, we should also send a political message to the countries concerned.”
Commission clampdown on Balkans route
Yet on Monday, just a day before the Balkans summit and three days before a critical vote on Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia’s entry to Schengen, the European Commission presented a package of proposed measures for controlling illegal migration through the Western Balkans.
One key point on which the EU is insisting is to bring the Western Balkans’ visa policies towards third countries into line with the EU’s own.
So yes, while EU visa liberalisation for Kosovo is on the table, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has implied that the whole visa-free regime from which the other five nations already benefit could be at risk if their visa systems do not fall into line. It goes without saying that third-country nationals being able to access the Western Balkans without a visa and subsequently cross into the EU represents a weak spot in the bloc’s border defences.
Overall, the Commission’s action plan aims to respond to member states’ concerns in the face of record numbers of asylum seekers – many from Afghanistan and Syria – arriving via the Western Balkan route. It includes measures to strengthen the region’s border management systems and to accelerate and support its asylum and return procedures.
The solution was welcomed by the Romanian government, whose spokesperson Dan Cărbunaru stressed Bucharest’s readiness to play its part. Radio România reports.
Dan Cărbunaru, Spokesperson for the Romanian Government (in Romanian):
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“Romania reiterates its willingness to actively and consistently contribute to implementing the measures and actions proposed by the European Commission, in a full European spirit of solidarity and responsibility, in close collaboration with its other European partners.”
Bucharest hopes that the proposed measures will allay the concerns of Vienna, in particular, which continues to block its road towards Schengen membership.
A new migrant wave?
Meanwhile, as Brussels focuses its migration efforts on the Western Balkan and Central Mediterranean migration routes, the Polish government is taking steps to prepare for the next wave of refugees from Ukraine.
The country’s foreign minister, Zbigniew Rau, was in Bratislava on Tuesday, meeting informally with his Visegrad group counterparts from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was at the top of the agenda.
Rau believes that the recent round of Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, including energy facilities, will be the catalyst for a new influx of refugees this winter. Polskie Radio shares his comments.
Zbigniew Rau, Foreign Minister of Poland (in Polish):
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“Our government has already taken action demonstrating our readiness to accept the new wave of refugees that will be caused by these barbaric and terrorist attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. The victims of these attacks are primarily civilians.”
