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At the time of the war in Ukraine, which has united Western countries like never before, the lack of consensus in the European Union on the enlargement process is being seen not only as a weakness, but also as harmful.
Many EU diplomats interviewed by Radio Free Europe have said that there are now three issues that need to be addressed “urgently” in order to restore credibility in the bloc’s enlargement process and to prove that the EU is really determined to push this process forward.
The first, according to them, is the start of membership negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia. Second, finding a solution to the political crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina opening the possibility of granting candidate status, and the third issue is visa liberalization for Kosovo.
These three issues have been waiting for several years and have contributed to the weakening of the EU’s power in the Western Balkans region. With the exception of Kosovo and Albania, this has led to a decline in trust in the EU among the citizens of the region.
The main problem why there are no opening of negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania is the blockade by Bulgaria in the case of Skopje, regarding language and identity issues, and as a result some countries do not want talks to start with Albania, so not to be separated from the package with Skopje.
“It is said to use the opportunity and put pressure on both countries. “If the negotiations are opened only for Albania, then it can happen that Northern Macedonia will remain waiting for a long time”, said an EU diplomat.
Although there are no formal links between candidate countries, as the process continues to be referred to as the “process based on individual merit”, in practice some countries see these two cases as linked.
A few years ago, after Northern Macedonia had reached an agreement with Greece on the issue of the state name, there were no obstacles on the road to the EU, while Albania, according to some member states, had not met all the conditions. At that time, it was Northern Macedonia that remained hostage to the disagreements of EU states over the issue of Albania, while now it is the opposite.
Albania has now begun to seek secession from this package because Tirana does not see any possibility of resolving disagreements between Skopje and Sofia. But the EU says there is “a window to solutions” and believes it can be reached before the summer.
Bulgaria has some disagreements with Northern Macedonia over identity issues. Although most in the EU insist that “these bilateral issues should not be a topic at all in the enlargement process”, so far no solution has been found to overcome the Bulgarian blockade, as decisions in this process are taken unanimously by the 27 member states.
Northern Macedonia and Albania are NATO member states and have fully supported all EU decisions, including sanctions against Russia imposed after Moscow launched its occupation of Ukraine on 24 February.
This fact has made some states critical because Serbia, which has not yet backed the European bloc’s sanctions on Russia and only partially supports the EU’s foreign policy stance, is far ahead in the enlargement process than Tirana and Skopje. This reason is also being used to increase calls to start negotiations with these two countries as soon as possible.
Northern Macedonia applied for EU membership 18 years ago. It was even the first country in the Western Balkans region to sign a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European bloc more than 20 years ago. Skopje has had great difficulty obtaining candidate status, but has been waiting for many years for the start of negotiations, although the European Commission has repeatedly confirmed that Northern Macedonia has met all the conditions and recommended the opening of membership negotiations.
A group of MEPs from the Socialist and Democratic factions also cited the example of Northern Macedonia, saying it was evidence of a “breach of EU promises”. Recalling the Prespa Agreement (the agreement between Northern Macedonia and Greece on the name issue), which opened an opportunity for the start of negotiations with this country, MEPs said that this case was not used.
“We did not keep our word. “The European Union has not yet opened the accession negotiations with Northern Macedonia, although it has repeatedly said that these countries have done all the things we asked them to do in order to start the negotiations”, said the deputies through a common position. They also demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine be taken as a wake-up call for the Western Balkans.
Five more have requested the start of negotiations with Northern Macedonia and Albania ministers of Central European states.
The Foreign Ministers of Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, through a letter sent to EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, have requested that the Western Balkans be on the agenda at the next meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of EU./REL
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