The European Union must respond to “the call of history” and commit to enlargement, Ursula von der Leyen defended yesterday, after the college of European commissioners agreed to recommend the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, give a push to the candidacy of Bosnia-Herzegovina and launch a plan for the progressive integration of the Western Balkans into the European internal market, without having to wait for them to meet all the criteria for joining the club.
“Completing the Union has a strong political and economic logic; the latest rounds of enlargement have been enormously beneficial both for the countries that enter and for the EU itself. “We all win,” emphasized the president of the European Commission, who also proposed enlargement as an “investment” in the security of the continent. The final decision on the start of accession talks with two countries that just 17 months ago, shortly after the Russian bombs began to fall on Kyiv, were recognized as candidates will be in the hands of the heads of state and government of the Union, who will address the issue at the December summit.
Each country will advance based on the progress it makes, insists Brussels, which sees in the giant steps taken by Ukraine and Moldova, in a context of war and constant Russian foreign interference, respectively, the demonstration that their governments and their opinions public authorities are fully committed to joining the Union. But not all applicants to enter the EU have made such a clear commitment to the European path, and yesterday Von der Leyen warned them that the time has come to choose: “We are at a decisive moment. Countries must choose and say which side they want to be on,” he said in an implicit allusion to Russia.
The situation of the ten countries evaluated by community technicians varies enormously. Its conclusion regarding Ukraine and Moldova is that both meet practically all the requirements that were set in June 2022, but there are still measures to be taken in areas such as, in the case of Kyiv, the fight against corruption, reducing the power of oligarchs and the protection of minorities, a chapter that Hungary will examine closely before giving the green light to the start of talks. The recommendation to the Twenty-Seven is to open accession negotiations with both countries, but, as this newspaper's website has already advanced, not to adopt the negotiating mandate until they complete the pending conditions, a milestone that could be reached in March 2024.
Georgia, another country whose territorial integrity is also threatened by Russia, was one step behind Ukraine and Moldova last year, and was not formally recognized as an EU candidate. Brussels now proposes to advance the process and proposes granting that status to Tbilisi as soon as it meets some pending conditions, for example aligning its foreign policy with the EU and joining the sanctions imposed on Russia for the war in Ukraine. Its remote geographical location – at the eastern end of the Black Sea, without borders with any EU country – as well as the intense political ties with Moscow, which nevertheless clash with the pro-European vocation of the population, place this candidacy in a category different from the rest of the candidates.
The express lane enabled for Ukraine and Moldova in the heat of the war has created strong unrest in the Western Balkan countries. They have been on the threshold of the EU for two decades and frustration is great in the region, coveted more than ever by Russia and China. Now Brussels is trying to convince its governments that, this time, the train has started. The most debated decision was to propose, nine months after his recognition as a candidate, the start of accession talks with Bosnia-Herzegovina when they meet a long list of requirements.
“We open the door wide to them and invite them to go through it,” but “results must be shown,” Von der Leyen urged the authorities of the multiethnic State. Although Sarajevo has the support of Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, the proposal will face opposition from the Netherlands and other EU partners, who do not believe it deserves to advance the process in view of the setbacks in the rule of law. and the attitude of some of its leaders (the Bosnian Serb, separatist Milorad Dodik, has ordered the expulsion and arrest of the EU representative in the country). Montenegro is by far the best-placed Balkan country in this process, followed by Albania and North Macedonia, with Serbia and Kosovo trailing behind, blocked by their inability to normalize bilateral relations.
Given the political difficulties in strengthening ties with the Balkans, Brussels is now committed to trying to make the citizens of these countries feel the benefits of being part of the EU as soon as possible and has launched an investment plan endowed with 60 billion euros to accelerate its progressive integration into the European single market, a measure that could double the size of their economies in a few years. The condition to access it, open its own markets to its neighboring countries, the litmus test of its will for European cooperation.
