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Merkel urges acceleration of the EU enlargement process towards the Balkans

2021-07-06T14:55:55.715Z


The Union wants to regain influence in the region, where China and Russia are taking hold through investment and 'vaccine diplomacy'


German Chancellor Angela Merkel during the press conference after the Berlin summit on the Western Balkans on Monday.Michael Sohn / AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sees the future of the Balkans within the European Union.

He has said this on several occasions, and he underlined it this Monday after the virtual summit held within the so-called Berlin Process on the Western Balkans.

Although he acknowledged that "there is still much to do" so that the six countries in the region that do not yet belong to the EU can join, he stressed that achieving it is of "strategic" importance for Europe.

"It is in the Union's own interest to drive the process," he said.

More information

  • The EU stands up to the investments of China and Russia in the Balkans

  • The EU gives the green light to the negotiations for the accessions of Albania and North Macedonia

Merkel hosted a summit in which the leaders of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia participated, as well as representatives of other member states and the president of the European Commission. Ursula von der Leyen agreed with Merkel in assuring that her "main priority is to accelerate the enlargement agenda and support the Western Balkan countries in their work to achieve the necessary reforms to advance on their European path."

The summit, which was returning to Berlin after seven years of being held in other capitals, is part of the Berlin Process, an initiative by various EU members, under German leadership, to foster regional cooperation between the six countries of the former Yugoslavia. and its path to European integration, which has been stagnant for years. Since 2014, an annual summit and several preparatory ministerial meetings have been held. Croatia was the first of the seven countries in the region to join the European Union, in 2013. Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia are official candidates, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo are considered potential candidates.

In recent months, the European Union has tried to regain presence and influence in the region to counteract the efforts that both China and Russia are making to locate in these countries through large investments and millionaire loans. During the pandemic, in addition, both powers have taken the opportunity to increase their dependence through vaccines. Several countries have bought the Chinese Sinopharm or the Russian Sputnik V to advance their immunization plans. The influence of third powers in the area also worries the United States. Last week Philip Reeker, US Undersecretary of State, warned that the EU's lower presence there opens gaps that other “geostrategic competitors” take advantage of to fill. "Let's not leave those holes," he urged Brussels, according to Bloomberg.

Neither Merkel nor Von der Leyen mentioned Russia or China, but the Chancellor stressed that the incorporation of the Western Balkans is in the Union's interest for "geostrategic reasons." "It is part of Europe and we want it to be part of the European Union," he added. Of course, the process continues to present many difficulties, he acknowledged, and mentioned some points of friction, such as the dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia or the problems that Serbia and Kosovo still drag. He also highlighted the progress in the negotiations, such as the opening of several chapters, and specific measures such as the disappearance of

roaming

(

roaming

tariff in mobile communications) between the countries of the region - it entered into force on July 1 - and the programs of school exchange.

Merkel also announced that Germany will donate "as soon as possible" three million vaccines to the Western Balkans, which corresponds to 10% of the 30 million doses that Berlin will give to COVAX, the global mechanism for equitable access to vaccines.

Von der Leyen, for his part, assured that the Commission will propose a new investment package of 500 million euros to support the implementation of the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans that Brussels approved in October 2020 to help the region to recover their economies after the pandemic.

The enlargement process in the Western Balkans

With Serbia, the largest of the Western Balkan countries not yet a member of the EU, negotiations and accession chapters have already been opened. It has seven million inhabitants. Belgrade submitted its application for accession in December 2009 and has had the status of a candidate country since March 2012. Among the first chapters of the accession negotiations is the one on the normalization of relations with Kosovo. In 2018, the European Commission stated in its strategy for the Western Balkans that Serbia could join the Union between that date and 2025, although it recognized that such a prospect was “extremely ambitious”. Brussels said the same about Montenegro, a country of 600,000 inhabitants that gained independence in 2006 and asked to join in 2008. It has been a candidate country since December 2010.

Albania, with 2.9 million inhabitants, applied to join the EU in 2009 and has been a candidate country since 2014. The European Commission has recommended the opening of accession negotiations several times, in 2016, 2018 and 2019, but these did not start until 2020. Brussels presented the draft negotiating framework to the Member States in July last year, a precondition for convening the first intergovernmental conference with Albania.

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, now North Macedonia, of 2.1 million inhabitants, applied to join the EU in 2004 and has had candidate country status since 2005. It took years to start accession negotiations over the dispute with Greece on the use of the name Macedonia, which was resolved in 2019. The European Council opened accession negotiations in March last year. Bulgaria blocks the entry of North Macedonia into the Union because of an identity dispute that they have maintained for years. Bulgaria wants this country to recognize that it has a common history and language with its neighbor.

Bosnia-Herzegovina (3.5 million inhabitants) submitted its application in 2016, which has yet to be resolved and is therefore considered a potential candidate. Kosovo (1.8 million inhabitants) declared its independence from Serbia unilaterally in 2008 and there are still five Member States of the Union (Spain among them) that do not recognize it. It is the only country in the region that remains excluded from visa liberalization. Kosovo's future entry into the EU is contingent on the dialogue between this country and Serbia, which was resumed in 2020 after a two-year hiatus, and which should lead to a legally binding agreement on the normalization of their relations.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2021-07-06

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