European Union leaders are meeting this Tuesday in Albania for a summit with their Balkan counterparts that will serve to give a new signal of support to the region and in which they will take the opportunity to call for accelerating its accession to the community club in the midst of a war of Russian aggression in Ukraine, a conflict with resonance in the Balkans.
Although the summit is not planned as a meeting focused on EU enlargement, the topic will be present with the consideration of the status of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a candidate to join the EU, following the positive opinion of the European Commission in October, and the liberalization of visas to Kosovo agreed by the Twenty-Seven for 2024.
These are two nods to the region, in addition to the formal opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, with which the EU intends to revive the European perspective of the Balkans and relations in general with the region, stuck for years due to the lack of real progress in its accession to the community club.
Speaking at a press conference from Slovenia, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, insisted Monday that the decision on Bosnia should be taken next December 13 at the meeting of EU-27 European affairs ministers. «That will be the moment of truth», assured the former Belgian Prime Minister, although European sources assume that the issue will already be on the table in Tirana, especially after the leaders of Croatia and Slovenia have expressed themselves clearly in favor of giving Bosnia this status.
Michel, however, has advanced that if the evaluation is positive and there is a consensus among the 27, the decision will be formally taken to the European Council two days later, on December 15. In Brussels they emphasize that the Enlargement policy follows its own logic and rhythm, but they advance that the European leaders will ask their Balkan colleagues to accelerate the path of the accession, through the reforms committed with the block.
The summit comes at a key geopolitical moment for Europe with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and that is why the leaders of the Twenty-seven will ask for total alignment of the region with the EU foreign policy, to which all the Balkan partners aspire to join. Of particular concern is the situation of Serbia, Russia’s main partner in the region, which has avoided joining the Western sanctions against Moscow.
FIRST SUMMIT IN THE BALKANS Moreover, it will be the first occasion in which the EU-Balkans summit will be held in the region, in another sign of convergence with the countries of the region and following the idea of having more harmony and influence in the area. In terms of concrete results, the EU-27 emphasize achieving greater cooperation on issues such as energy – through joint gas purchases -, moving towards greater economic integration with the region, as well as putting an end to roaming in the Balkans and increasing joint military capabilities.
The meeting will produce a political declaration of the EU-27, which the Balkan countries are expected to support, in what would be understood as a sign of important political alignment of the countries of the area in the face of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
POLLEMIC WITH SERBIA The summit arrives heated by the threat of the Serbian President, Aleksandar Vucic, to boycott the meeting in which he will coincide with the Kosovar Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, in a new level of the tensions between Belgrade and its former province due to the controversial Kosovar law, to impose documents and license plates to the Serbian Kosovar communities.
Vucic announced last week his absence in Tirana, after charging Kurti whom he called «terrorist scum» after Pristina appointed a Kosovar Serb community minister away from Belgrade’s influence, an appointment that Brussels warned goes against the procedures set out in the Kosovar Constitution.
Finally, the Serbian leader has backed down, stating that Serbia will benefit more from attending than from being absent from the summit with European leaders. From Brussels it was expected that he would finally be able to attend, understanding that the «fragile» situation in the relations between Belgrade and Pristina needs dialogue and cooperation and to leave aside unilateral actions that exacerbate tensions.