Leaders of Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia left Brussels bitterly disappointed by the EU-Western Balkans summit’s failure to deliver on the accession hopes of the region.
(L-R) Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, North Macedonia’s Dimitar Kovacevski, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at a press conference following the EU-Western Balkans leaders’ meeting in Brussels, 23 June 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/STEPHANIE LECOCQ
Three Western Balkans leaders expressed displease over the poor outcome of the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
The three stressed the lack of a breakthrough in the Bulgarian blockade of North Macedonia’s and Albania’s accession bids, while EU countries gave purely verbal support to Kosovo on visa liberalisation and show apparent disunity on granting Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status.
At a joint press conference, North Macedonia’s PM Dimitar Kovacevski, Albania’s PM Edi Rama and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic, expressed their joint frustration with the blocked state of EU enlargement.
Thanking the French presidency and French President Macron for their efforts, North Macedonia’s Kovacevski said the so-called French proposal for a breakthrough in the Bulgarian blockade of his country was unacceptable as it stands.
“All … 27 countries that joined the Union, [did so] proudly, with all the differences they brought, and with full respect for their own and others cultural, ethnic, linguistic and historic differences,” he said.
“None of this was problematized on their EU path. That is what we also wish for. Nothing more and nothing less; respect for the linguistic, ethnic, cultural and historic identity of my people.”
Kovacevski added that for the French proposal to work, among other things, North Macedonia must get guarantees about the Macedonian identity and language, and that Bulgaria will not set even more conditions during the EU negotiations.
“North Macedonia has been a candidate member for almost 18 years. We signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement exactly 21 years ago. In March 2020, the European Council made a decision for unconditional start of negotiations. But here we are today and the [membership] negotiations have not started yet,” he said.
“I will be straightforward. What has happened now is a serious problem and serious blow to the credibility of the EU. We are wasting precious time, which we do not have at our disposal,” Kovacevski added.
Slating the EU’s failure to deliver on its promise to integrate the region, Albanian PM Edi Rama said that he felt deeply sorry for the EU’s divisions.
“I told them that it is both good and bad to be here. It is good because we are here among Europeans, but it is bad because we are still not heard here as Europeans, but as guests in a divided house,” Rama told a joint press conference after the summit.
For some years, Bulgaria has been blocking the start of North Macedonia’s EU accession talks over history and identity issues. Among other thing, Bulgaria insists that the Macedonian identity and language originate from Bulgaria, and that key historic figures that both countries celebrate are of Bulgarian origin.
Albania’s membership big has been a collateral damage of the dispute, as its EU progress has been tied with that of its neighbour.
Bulgaria Fails to Lift Blockade, Accept French Proposal
There is not even a hypothetical chance for Bulgaria to lift its veto on North Macedonia today, the outgoing Bulgarian PM Kiril Petkov told media on arrival at the EU-Western Balkans summit.
He said that he personally liked the French proposal for a breakthrough, but that, as he had previously promised, he could not make any move without the Bulgarian parliament first green-lighting it.
Amid a turbulent political situation there, the proposal has remained stuck in the Bulgarian parliament.
Tthe main opposition GERB party of former PM Boyko Borissov, who launched the North Macedonia blockade in the first place, today insisted that the Frnehc proposal is good and be put before a plenary session as soon as possible.
On the other, the parliament cannot begin session right now because other parties have been refusing to show up and form a quorum.
“Today in Brussels in fact, nothing happened, again,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told the same conference.
“I believe that our friends from Skopje and Tirana deserve the start of EU talks and I believe this should happen as soon as possible, which is not a matter of request, because both countries have done everything that was asked of them,” Vucic added.
He thanked Kovacevski and Rama for their “understanding” for Serbia’s unique position in its relations to Russia and for it not aligning with the EU on sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, cancelled their press conference which was originally scheduled for after the summit, claiming time had run out.
“The EU integration of the Western Balkans means peace, democracy and prosperity in Europe. We continue working for it and for keeping the flame of the European perspective alive,” the EU’s foreign affairs chief stated after the summit.
Previously, ahead of the summit, he warned it would be a bad day for the EU, as there was no chance of a breakthrough on the Bulgarian blockade.
The very holding of this summit was hanging in balance on Wednesday, when the three Balkan leaders initially considered not going to Brussels, for what they called another photo-op. But they later decided to go, to at least express their strong European determination.
On a more positive note, Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani said in Brussels that she had received “the strongest so far” support from EU leaders for the country’s EU perspective and for lifting of visas on its citizens.
“But now we need to go from words to deeds, we need concrete action apart from simply supportive statements and we need a decision now on visa liberalization,” Osmani said.
Later, as EU leaders continued with the June summit, Bosnia and Herzegovina remained hopeful of getting candidate country status. Slovenia has been vocal in seeking this.
However, it is expected that some EU members will still insist on Bosnia first fulfilling key reforms to improve its functionality as a state.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
