{"id":285625,"date":"2023-12-13T21:17:10","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T20:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2023\/12\/13\/vertice-ue-balcani-attesa-consiglio\/"},"modified":"2023-12-19T11:25:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:25:33","slug":"a-summit-waiting-for-another-summit-the-point-on-eu-balkan-relations-in-the-council-standoff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/2023\/12\/13\/a-summit-waiting-for-another-summit-the-point-on-eu-balkan-relations-in-the-council-standoff\/","title":{"rendered":"A summit waiting for another summit. The point on EU-Balkan relations in the Council standoff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – It is a summit of anticipation, suspended in the hope that the upcoming European Council will not blow the entire EU enlargement process.\u00a0The annual summit between EU and Western Balkan leaders<\/strong>\u00a0focused on progress on the political and especially economic front over the past year, but on a meeting where the issue of the partner countries’ accession to the Union is foundational to\u00a0the specter of obstructionism hovered<\/span><\/a>\u00a0by Hungarian Prime Minister,\u00a0Viktor Orb\u00e1n<\/strong>, at the Summit of the 27 Heads of State scheduled for tomorrow and the day after (Dec. 14-15).<\/p>\n

\"EU-Western<\/a>
From left: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel (Dec. 13, 2023)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We reaffirmed that the future of the six Western Balkan countries is within the European Union with gradual integration made explicit in a concrete way,” said the president of the European Council,\u00a0Charles Michel<\/strong>, at a press conference at the end of the summit. Words confirmed by the leader of the EU Commission,\u00a0Ursula von der Leyen<\/strong>: “We had a very good discussion at this summit,” based on\u00a0the recently presented Enlargement Package<\/span><\/a>. Regarding the November 8\u00a0report<\/span><\/a>, von der Leyen noted that “the fundamentals’ cluster with\u00a0Northern Macedonia<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Albania<\/strong>\u00a0should be opened as soon as possible,” while\u00a0Montenegro<\/strong>\u00a0experiences a “positive moment<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with the new government,” and\u00a0Serbia\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Kosovo<\/strong>\u00a0“have made important commitments that now need to be implemented” in the context of the\u00a0Prishtina-Belgrade dialogue<\/span><\/a>. And then there is the most sensitive issue, the one on which a chess game with Orb\u00e1n will begin from tomorrow: “We have recommended the opening of the\u00a0accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina<\/strong>\u00a0as soon as the conditions are met,” von der Leyen said, but without answering questions about how much the EU enlargement chapter is at risk because of the Hungarian premier’s possible veto of Ukraine’s EU membership. The starting point is the\u00a0Tirana Declaration of 2022<\/span><\/a>, both on reforms required for EU membership and strategic orientation “in light of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” reads the\u00a0statement<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from the latest EU-Western Balkans summit, which again insists on\u00a0making “rapid and sustained progress towards full alignment”\u00a0<\/strong>with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) “including on EU restrictive<\/p>\n

measures and to act accordingly.” The implicit reference is to Serbia’s\u00a0Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong>\u00a0(absent in Brussels today and replaced by the premier,\u00a0Ana Brnabi\u0107<\/strong>),\u00a0still far from aligning<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with sanctions against Russia. At the same time, the statement also stresses the “strategic commitment” of the\u00a0partners who are already “fully” in line<\/span><\/a>\u00a0with Brussels. On the more sensitive issues on the table, there is an explicit reference to support for efforts to normalize relations between Serbia and Kosovo in the EU-mediated dialogue: “We expect constructive engagement of the two Parties,” after\u00a0a year of extreme tension between Pristina and Belgrade<\/span><\/a>. But while the declaration calls for “refrain from unilateral and uncoordinated actions that could lead to further tensions and violence,” Kosovo’s president,\u00a0Vjosa Osmani<\/strong>, urged EU leaders to “revoke the unjust measures<\/strong>”\u00a0imposed since June 28<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Ursula<\/a><\/figure>\n

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama (Dec. 13)<\/p>\n

At the political level, the highlight should be on point 9: “The EU intends to bring the Western Balkans closer by preparing the ground for accession and bringing concrete benefits to their citizens already during the enlargement process.” In this regard, EU institutions intend to “explore additional measures to further advance the gradual integration<\/strong>” – as something that\u00a0President Michel has long been claiming<\/span><\/a>\u00a0– harnessing “the potential of existing legal instruments” and favoring it “already during the enlargement process itself, in a reversible and merit-based manner.” Welcomed in this context is the new\u00a0EUR6 billion Western Balkans Growth Plan<\/span><\/a>\u00a0presented by the EU Commission, which “aims to accelerate socio-economic convergence” and “encourages the region to accelerate the pace of reforms” according to EU Single Market rules, as well as the\u00a0participation of the six Balkan countries in the Foreign Affairs Council<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in November.\"EU<\/a>On the economic front, there is the success of the \u20ac1 billion\u00a0energy support package<\/strong>\u00a0divided into two parts of 500 million:\u00a090 percent – or \u20ac450 million – of the first half<\/strong>\u00a0dedicated to cushioning energy price increases on households and businesses\u00a0“has already been disbursed.”<\/strong>\u00a0The remaining \u20ac500 million in grants will be provided through the Western Balkans Investment Framework, targeting renewables, energy infrastructure, and interconnectors. Let’s also not forget the\u00a0Economic and Investment Plan<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of nearly 30 billion euros in 2021-2027, “in an advanced stage of implementation,” with\u00a016.6 billion “already mobilized”<\/strong>. And finally, there is the issue of migration, on a day punctuated by a\u00a0blunder by President von der Leyen<\/span><\/a>\u00a0over the migration agreement between Italy and Albania. “The route is still very active, with a high number of irregular border crossings,” notes the statement about the Balkan route and last year’s\u00a0Action Plan<\/span><\/a>, with a reminder of visa policy: “The EU calls for further alignment to avoid abuses of Member States’ migration and asylum systems<\/strong>.” From January 1, 2024, thanks to the\u00a0liberalization also for Kosovar citizens<\/span><\/a>, “all people from the entire Western Balkan region will be able to travel visa-free in the Schengen area.”<\/p>\n

Where does EU enlargement stand in the Western Balkans<\/h3>\n

\"Allargamento<\/a>Of the six Western Balkan countries that have begun the long road to EU membership,\u00a0four have already started accession negotiations<\/strong>\u00a0– Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia –\u00a0one has received candidate status<\/strong>\u00a0– Bosnia and Herzegovina – and\u00a0one has formally applied<\/strong>, and is awaiting the response of the 27 Member States – Kosovo.\u00a0Tirana and Skopje<\/strong>\u00a0began negotiations in July last year<\/span><\/a>\u00a0after waiting eight and 17 years, respectively, while\u00a0Podgorica and Belgrade have<\/strong>\u00a0been at this stage<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for 11 and nine years, respectively. After six years of applying for EU membership, on December 15 last year,\u00a0Sarajevo\u00a0<\/strong>also became a candidate<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to join the Union and\u00a0now eagerly awaits the European Council’s decision on the start of accession negotiations<\/strong>, which, according to the EU Commission’s EU Enlargement Package 2023 can take place “once the necessary degree of compliance with the accession criteria has been achieved.”\u00a0Pristina is in the most complicated position<\/strong>\u00a0after the\u00a0formal request sent late last year<\/span><\/a>: since the unilateral declaration of independence from Belgrade in 2008, five EU member states do not recognize it as a sovereign state (Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Spain, and Slovakia) and in parallel are\u00a0relations with Brussels<\/span><\/a>\u00a0have soured after\u00a0diplomatic tensions with Serbia<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in late May.\"Negoziati<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The annual summit between EU and Western Balkan leaders focused on the implementation of economic and energy support plans and discussions on gradual integration, foreign policy and the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue. But the enlargement chapter will depend on Viktor Orb\u00e1n’s obstructionism on Ukraine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5647,"featured_media":285563,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[26009,26013,26006,26007,26012,26010,26032,25836,26031,25834,26030,26033],"class_list":["post-285625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-adesione-ue-albania-en","tag-accession-ue-bosnia-en","tag-adesione-ue-montenegro-en","tag-adesione-ue-macedonia-en","tag-vertice-balcani-en","tag-eu-enlargement-en","tag-ue-balcani-en-2","tag-european-council-en","tag-western-balkans-en-2","tag-summit-western-balkans-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5647"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285625"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":285993,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285625\/revisions\/285993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}