Borrell: The Balkans, the EU’s most important foreign policy

“The Western Balkans are part of our geography and we want to face together with Russia’s disruptive actions directly in the region through disinformation and cyber attacks,” Borrelli said before dinner.

“Tonight’s meeting will further strengthen the ongoing engagement with the Western Balkans, which remains our strategic priority,” he added.

Borrelli said that today the world is in a completely different situation since September last year, when the last meeting with the leaders of the Western Balkans took place.

“In September no one could have expected us to be with an aggressor, returning the war to Europe and seeing this devastating impact of senseless bloodshed. “Europeans do not remember the war and now we see the war on our borders.”

“The last war in Europe was in the Balkans, now it is in Ukraine and today will be a good opportunity to discuss the global and regional impact of this Putin war, an illegal war against the Ukrainian people and against the international order based on rules “, he stressed.

He said he wanted to discuss with “our closest partners, the six Balkan leaders, how we can work together to address the consequences of this war.”

“As always I am eager to hear about the concerns of these leaders, given this situation and how to address the negative impact on Putin’s fight for food, energy and stability on our common continent,” he said.

Borrell also welcomed the fact that most states in the Balkans acted in line with the bloc against the Russian occupation of Ukraine and called on other states to do the same.

“Most have done it, and I urge others to do it,” Borrelli said.

Of the countries in the region, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have not imposed sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

Among other things, Borrelli said that there is no room for violating the sovereignty, but also the unity and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“I will have to be very honest in this regard with Mr. Dodik this evening,” said Borrelli.

Participants in the dinner in Brussels are: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vuiqiiq, Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, President of Montenegro, Milo ukukanovi,, Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Dimitar Kovaçevski , and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite presidency member Milorad Dodik.

Kosovo is represented in this informal dinner with Chief Diplomat Gërvalla, as Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani and Prime Minister Albin Kurti are visiting the United States.

Ahead of the informal dinner, all participants are holding brief bilateral talks with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo, Donika Gërvalla, before the meeting said that from the informal dinner she expects to have a conversation about the perspective and rapid integration of the Balkan region.

Dodik said he would share his views on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina with Borrell.

“The fact is that Bosnia is stable and peaceful and that the Ukrainian crisis does not affect BiH in terms of a war, in any way. This is a long way off today. We have big political problems inside Bosnia. We are preparing for elections in which we failed to implement electoral reform. “There is a fundamental dissatisfaction with the fact that the constitutionality of the people and their rights in BiH are being endangered,” Dodik said.

He added, however, that efforts would be needed to maintain stability and peace. Dodik said the EU can help, too.

The Prime Minister of Northern Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, said that the war in Ukraine requires the states to be more united than ever and the Balkan region to coordinate its policies with those of the European bloc.

He said that during the dinner he will talk to Borrell about the start of EU membership talks in Northern Macedonia as soon as possible, after warning that the enlargement process, due to the Russian occupation, has taken on a security connotation.

“More specifically for Northern Macedonia, we will discuss with Mr. Borrell the need for an urgent start of membership negotiations and the holding of the first inter-ministerial conference between the EU and Northern Macedonia. “EU enlargement is not only a political and economic process, but in the light of new geopolitical developments, especially due to the war in Ukraine, it is also becoming a security issue in the Western Balkans region,” Kovacevski said.

All countries in the region, with the exception of Serbia, have joined the EU positions on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and have also supported sanctions against this country. The adaptation of the countries of the region to the EU positions on foreign and security policy is almost 100 percent, except in the case of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The EU claims that it expects Serbia to support the sanctions against Russia imposed by the European Union, because in this way it would prove its clear commitment to the European future.

Although the EU is pleased with Serbia’s vote in the UN to exclude Russia from the Commission on Human Rights, there is great frustration among EU member states over Serbia’s opposition to backing sanctions on Russia. .

The leaders are also expected to discuss the need for the EU to be more engaged in accelerating the enlargement process, a process which also affects the dynamics of reforms and regional co-operation between them.

The tradition of holding such an informal dinner was started by Borrell’s predecessor, Federica Mogherini, who met with Balkan leaders every year for an informal dinner to discuss the region’s future and the main challenges facing the region.

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