The Russian war against Ukraine has provided „collateral benefits“ to the Western Balkans. The war itself and the promise of future EU membership for Ukraine, Moldova, and -- more indefinitely -- Georgia have resulted in new initiatives for the EU accession process of the Western Balkans. The Berlin Process Summit in November, the European Parliament’s adoption of the Picula proposal on EU enlargement on November 23rd, and the EU Western Balkan Summit on December 6th in Tirana -- the first in a Western Balkan country – have sent strong signals to the region. Concrete steps added more substance to the general declarations. These included the agreement to enhance free movement between the countries of the region declared at the Berlin Process Summit as well as the energy support package and willingness to finally give Kosovo the promised visa liberalization announced in Tirana.
Nineteen years after the Thessaloniki Summit gave the countries of the Western Balkans the perspective of joining the EU, there has been little concrete progress made. Now, after years of failing to deal seriously with the accession of the countries between Croatia and Greece, the EU is helping give rise to new hopes. This change stems in part from current hardships in the region, especially due to the ongoing war and its economic and social consequences. As an analysis by the Vienna Institute for Economic Studies shows, inflation following the rising prices for energy and food have a particularly strong effect on the poorer regions of the Western Balkans. This trend will only enhance emigration from the region. Thus, the EU's energy support package is an urgent social and economic measure to help alleviate poverty and reduce emigration from the region. However, it must also be noted -- as shown by another study by the Vienna Institute – that the EU’s financial support to the Western Balkans still lags far behind the support it provided to other Eastern European countries during their time as candidates.
The Tirana declaration after the EU Western Balkan Summit as well as the vote on the Picula proposal in particular underline the necessity of overcoming obstacles towards reconciliation and regional cooperation. Too many forces in the region still cling to nationalist attitudes and prejudices, and too little attention is given to this behavior by the European Commission. The European Parliament is correct in asking for more engagement by the countries themselves in promoting the region’s “democratic and economic transformation.” But it also asks the European Council and European Commission to upgrade their enlargement strategy. In particular, the European Parliament proposed a phasing-in process in connection with more incentives to fulfill the different conditions on the way towards full EU membership.
Such a phasing-in accession -- or staged accession, as it is called by a research project developed jointly by institutes in Brussels and Belgrade -- would overcome the stalemate in the enlargement process. Such a process could be helpful for the eventual accession of Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia too. It would also give the EU time to prepare itself for this enlargement. With full respect to the EU’s achievements in view of the COVID crisis and the war in Ukraine, both candidate countries and the EU itself must step up the necessary reforms to prepare for the upcoming enlargement. Moreover, the decisions and declarations of the European Council and the European Parliament make it clear that the newly-established European Conference is no substitute for a carefully enlarged EU.
Picture Author: Finnish Government on Flickr
Dr. Hannes Swoboda, President of the International Institute for Peace (IIP), started his career in urban politics in Vienna and was elected member of the European Parliament in 1996. He was Vice President of the Social Democrat Group until 2012 und then President until 2014. He was particularly engaged in foreign, enlargement, and neighborhood policies. Swoboda is also President of the Vienna Institute for International Economics, the Centre of Architecture, the University for Applied Science - Campus Vienna, and the Sir Peter Ustinov Institute.