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The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, tried to act as the conductor, while the heads of state of the EU and the Balkans were lining up for photographs. It made some laugh, but others were distracted by their own agendas.
A view that suited the state of the EU when it comes to enlargement. That, contrary to what was hoped, neither Albania nor North Macedonia learned when they will start the first chapter of talks, neither Bosnia-Herzegovina, if they will start talks, nor Montenegro and Serbia how continue with the negotiations, and neither will Kosovo, when the punitive measures will be removed and the request for candidate status will be considered. The Serbian Prime Minister, Anna Brnabič and the Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani, who represented the two neighboring countries in the dispute, will send the message to the homeland: to move forward with the implementation of the Ohrid Agreement and de-tension the situation.
Gradual membership process
Instead of the concrete steps of membership, the joint statement repeated the promise of Balkan membership in the EU, and the acceleration of this process, through "gradual integration", as the secretary of the EU Council, Charles Michel, would call it. in the joint conference with the president of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU Council repeated the request for reforms, but also made some new funds available: They are for projects of a total of 680 million euros, with a special focus on improving transport infrastructure and promoting renewable energy, said the President of the European Commission of the EU, Ursula von der Leyen.
Albania and North Macedonia blocked
Albania is currently at loggerheads with Greece because of Fred Beler, the elected mayor of Himara, who is still in custody after seven months. North Macedonia has been blocked for several years by Bulgaria, which is now demanding that North Macedonia change its constitution. But the final position of Greece and Bulgaria will be decided during the two-day summit taking place on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
The regular summit will mainly discuss the opening of negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Germany supports this, according to a statement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the Bundestag. But countries like Austria and Hungary are against it, according to government circles in Berlin. Austria demands that if the negotiations with Ukraine are opened, they should also be opened with Bosnia-Herzegovina. But Germany opposes this. According to her, Bosnia-Herzegovina is not ready yet.
It is precisely these successive blockades that turn the issue of enlargement into a protracted process. The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, wants to put an end to these blockages due to bilateral issues, such as those between Greece and Albania or Bulgaria and North Macedonia. During the speech in the Bundestag, he spoke about reforming the EU and spoke out against vetoing any phase of enlargement: National parliaments can decide whether or not to open negotiations, but not for every phase, he said. He said that countries that have made reforms, such as Albania, must be evaluated, otherwise the whole process will be damaged./DW
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