Macron’s analysis / idea could leave the Western Balkans outside the EU

Toby Vogel, an analyst and expert on the EU and the Western Balkans based in Brussels, estimates that President Macron’s idea will not be supported by the bloc countries.

In addition to describing the proposal as vague and very vague, Vogel says that Macron through this idea reveals the opposition he has in relation to the membership of new states in the EU.

“It is clear that EU enlargement is not going anywhere, certainly not for the Western Balkans, and one of the reasons for that is President Emmanuel Macron. “He was the one who blocked, for example, the opening of membership negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania,” Vogel said in an interview with Radio Free Europe.

France opposed the opening of negotiations for Albania and northern Macedonia in 2019. Macron said at the time that these countries still needed to make progress.

And speaking in Strasbourg on May 9 on Europe Day, Macron, referring to Ukraine’s bid for swift EU membership, said it could take decades for that to happen.

The comments came after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in June that she planned to comment on Ukraine’s application for membership.

Macron has spoken out against speeding up the procedure for Ukraine, but also for other states, arguing that the standards should be respected.

Instead of accelerating, he proposed what he called a “European political community” that could be open to non-EU countries, such as the United Kingdom, which has left the bloc.

Vogel thinks that the real purpose of President Macron’s proposal is to present him as a friend of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and the countries of the Western Balkans, countries that aspire to EU integration, while at the same time not supporting their membership.

“Now, what I really doubt lies behind Macron’s idea is how to say: we will give you candidate status, but then we will leave you in oblivion where you are not really a member, but also not you are completely out of the EU… This would be a way to keep out [BE-së] The Western Balkans and Ukraine and everyone else, which I doubt in the end is what he is [Macron] he really wants “, Vogel emphasizes.

The French President, Macron, as well as French officials in general have held opposing positions in relation to the membership of other states in the European bloc.

For years, France has also opposed the visa liberalization process for Kosovo, even though all the criteria that the EU had set in the roadmap have been met.

Bodo Weber, a Balkans expert and senior associate of the Democratization Policy Council in Berlin, sees the idea presented by the French president more as a tendency to stifle the enlargement process.

“I think what he is [Emmanuel Macron] is proposing here in principle,[është] an alternative to the EU enlargement process even though he has avoided saying so. “He is ready to find a format that would eliminate the issue of EU enlargement.”

Weber says it is clear that within the EU countries there are major disagreements regarding the further enlargement of the bloc.

Macron’s idea was welcomed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who described it as “a very interesting suggestion to face the biggest challenge we face”. However, Germany’s Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Manuel Sarrazin, said in an interview with the Tanjug news agency in Belgrade on May 10 that “Germany wants all the Western Balkan countries to have a future in the EU.”

Referring to Sarrazin’s statement, Weber says that the German Government is against a second category membership in particular for the Western Balkan countries.

“So, the German government has understood quite well what Mr. Macron is aiming for and there are disagreements between France and Germany regarding EU enlargement, as Germany continues to stand by the support of the prospect of EU membership starting from the countries. of the Western Balkans “, says Weber.

He adds that the EU needs to rethink the enlargement process and that no other mechanism is needed, especially for the countries of the Western Balkans, as there have already been various initiatives that have not proved effective, including the Berlin Process and the regional idea of ​​the Open Balkans.

The Berlin Process is an initiative of several EU member states, under German leadership, aimed at increasing cooperation with the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as promoting regional cooperation and the European perspective of the region.

The Open Balkans was an idea that found strong support in Serbia and Albania and northern Macedonia. The Open Balkans was presented as an alternative to the countries of the region through which the idea was to create a common political and economic area.

This initiative did not find support in Kosovo, Montenegro, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina.

How was the proposal commented in the region?

The governments of Kosovo, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have not commented on the proposal of French President Macron. But opinions about the initiative have been given in Serbia and Northern Macedonia.

On May 10, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he had not spoken to France’s re-elected president for more than a month and would not interfere in decision-making processes within the European Union.

“I would like to hear what his final plan is so that I can make a statement,” Vucic said in a statement to the media in Serbia.

Macron’s proposal is welcomed in northern Macedonia.

Macedonian government spokesman Dusko Arsovski said on Wednesday (May 11th) that the proposal was “an excellent opportunity to unite countries that failed or did not want to join the bloc at a given moment, given the new geopolitical situation”. .

Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Northern Macedonia, Besnik Osmani, said that Macron’s proposal has more to do with Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, but not with the Western Balkans.

Where is the region in the membership process?

Northern Macedonia applied for EU membership in 2004. It has only candidate status. It has not yet opened membership negotiations.

Albania applied for membership in 2009, is a candidate country, but has not yet opened membership negotiations.

Montenegro is a candidate country and applied for EU accession in 2008.

Serbia is also a candidate country and applied for EU accession in 2009.

Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina are one step further. They have the status of only a potential candidate state.

Candidate status is granted by the European Council on the basis of an opinion of the European Commission, drafted following the application for EU membership.

Potential candidate countries are those countries that can potentially apply for EU membership./Shkëlqim Hysenaj/REL

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