Thewesternbalkans.
According to a press announcement of the European Council, the President of the European Council, António Costa, will travel to the Western Balkans from 1-st to 5-th June to meet with leaders from the region and to co-chair the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Tivat, Montenegro (on 5 June).
President Costa will discuss opportunities and challenges around enlargement, gradual integration, regional cooperation, security and stability.
“My second Western Balkans tour sends a clear signal: the EU’s commitment to the region is real. The momentum is there. Now is the time to deliver” said the President of the European Council.
President Costa will visit the six Western Balkans partners, starting in Sarajevo on Monday 1 June, when he will be meeting members of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Bećirović, Željka Cvijanović, Željko Komšić and the Chairwoman of the Council of Ministers, Borjana Krišto.
On Tuesday 2 June, President Costa will be in Tirana, where he will meet Prime Minister Edi Rama, President of the Republic Bajram Begaj and the students of Tirana Campus of the College of Europe. He will then visit Skopje, to meet with Prime Minister Mickoski.
The following day, Wednesday 3 June, President Costa will head to Pristina, to meet with acting President Albulena Haxhiu, the outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and the chairs of opposition parties.
On Thursday 4 June, President Costa will meet in Belgrade President Aleksandar Vučić, Speaker of the Parliament Ana Brnabić and civil society organisations. The tour will then conclude in Montenegro, where President Jakov Milatović has invited leaders to a dinner in Tivat to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the restoration of the country’s independence.
On 5 June, President Costa will co-chair the EU-Western Balkans Summit. The central theme of this summit is ‘Shared prosperity and stability of the EU and the Western Balkans’.
President Costa will hold press events in all the cities he visits.
Comments: The President of the European Council, António Costa, will make his second visit to the region. The hopes of some Balkan leaders, such as the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Mickoski, to bypass the European Council’s decision regarding the conditions for starting negotiations with his country, will most likely be dashed.
The visit comes at a time when the European Union is trying to strengthen cooperation with the countries of the region and accelerate the reform processes related to European integration. In addition, Brussels is developing a new strategy for the Western Balkans. While previously the countries of the region were promised full membership for an indefinite period, they are now offered gradual integration: access to European funds, certain sectors of the single market, roaming space and other mechanisms for economic integration.
Some Balkan countries (Serbia, Albania) are ready to accept such a model, but it also has its drawbacks. While the candidate countries enjoy the advantages of the European system, they are deprived of the most important advantage: full participation in decision-making. In other words, the Balkans are asked to adapt their legislation to EU standards, open their markets and comply with Brussels’ requirements, without having a voice in the European institutions or any real influence on the formation of these rules.
For now, at an official level, European leaders are not promoting this model, as the future functioning of the EU with such an “external periphery” is unclear. Friedrich Merz’s idea to grant the Western Balkan countries “observer status” in EU institutions prior to their accession has not yet received serious consideration among leaders.
