Thewesternbalkans
According to media reports, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, met in Brussels on 19.09.2024 at a working lunch with the leaders of the countries of the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro). During the meeting they discussed the enlargement and the plan for economic growth.
The working lunch was attended by the Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo, the Prime Minister of Montenegro Milojko Spajic, the Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, the Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski and the President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic.
Chairwoman Kristo informed President von der Leyen about the report sent to the European Commission regarding the level of alignment with the Reform Agenda, noting that two remaining measures still represent obligations for Bosnia and Herzegovina. She also informed about the preparations for hosting the next WB6 summit, scheduled for late this year.
In a post on the X social network after the meeting, von der Leyen wrote that all six countries of the Western Balkans have a place in the European Union.
“Today I received the leaders of the six partners from the Western Balkans. All six countries have their place in Europe. This is what we are working towards. In parallel, we are bringing their economies and markets closer to ours with our €6 billion Growth Plan for the region,” she wrote.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, has called for consideration of Kosovo’s application for membership in the European Union, as well as for Kosovo to receive a membership questionnaire and candidate status. Kosovo is the only country in the region that does not yet have the status of a candidate country for EU membership, the media recalls.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said that during the lunch they talked about the plans of the new European Commission and about the strategic initiatives, the green corridors and the European path of the countries of the Western Balkans. According to him, the President of the EC had a positive attitude towards the enlargement.
At the working lunch, the Reform Program was discussed and also the Reform Agenda, which all countries, with the exception of Bosnia and Herzegovina, brought to Brussels on time. These are reforms related to the rule of law, democracy, institutional reforms, prevention of corruption and conflicts of interest, and taking the necessary steps to ensure that funds are not misused. In order to receive the financial resources from the Growth Plan, each country of the Western Balkans was required to submit the Reform Agenda.
The Serbian president noted that Serbia will soon receive the first installment of 112 million euros from the Growth Plan. Vucic believes that the single market of the Western Balkans is the main condition for joining the single European market. Vucic emphasized that regarding the conditions for the Growth Plan, Serbia has fulfilled and signed all the criteria of the Reform Agenda. “He who does not want to participate is out of the game. Everyone else who does this and accepts it through CEFTA (Central European Free Trade Agreement) and the Berlin Process stays in the game. We stay in the game. We want Open Balkans,” he said, referring to the recent actions of the Kosovo prime minister regarding CEFTA and the Berlin process, the media noted. Kosovo and Serbia are at odds over CEFTA after Kosovo banned imports of Serbian goods in June 2023.
According to a statement from the Kosovo government, Kurti said that Kosovo was “one of the first countries” to introduce the Reform Agenda, “thus showing its commitment to the Growth Plan”. Kurti also “reaffirmed his country’s support” for the Berlin process, expressing “his commitment and the commitment of the government of the Republic of Kosovo to new agreements“ and at the same time stressed the importance of „fully implementing the four mobility agreements signed in 2022 in Berlin”.
According to information from Radio Free Europe, the document on the Growth Plan that Bosnia and Herzegovina submitted to Brussels does not meet the criteria to be acceptable to the European Commission (EC), adding that the country sent an incomplete document that does not reflect all EC recommendations. Thus, Bosnia and Herzegovina misses the deadline for the timely submission of the Reform Agenda, which is necessary to receive financial resources from the Growth Plan intended for the region.
According to an unofficial estimate cited by the media, Kosovo will be able to gain over 880 million euros from this Plan. For Kosovo and for Serbia, in addition to the general criteria related to the rule of law, there is another condition for the Growth Plan – constructive engagement in the process of normalizing relations between them, which includes the fulfillment of all obligations within the dialogue with the mediation of the EU.
In addition to his participation in the working lunch with the President of the European Commission, the new Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mitskoski, also held a meeting with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. According to an information from the Macedonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, during the meeting, Mitskoski presented a new “French proposal plus” This proposal envisages a request from North Macedonia for: deferred action of the changes in the Constitution for the inclusion of Bulgarians; guarantees for the Macedonian identity and reciprocity with the recognition of the so-called Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.
“Europe, yes, but based on objective and realistic criteria”. This was written on Facebook by the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mitskoski, after a meeting with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel. And after the meeting, which was also attended by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, Timcho Mutsunski and Orhan Murtezani, Mickoski stated that at the moment they are not fighting for full membership in the European Union, but for negotiations that will lead to stronger institutions.
In an interview for the program “360 degrees” on Macedonian public television, Foreign Minister Timcho Mutsunski stated that the French proposal in its current form lacks predictability.
At the meeting with Charles Michel, no official document was presented, since he will soon no longer be the president of the European Council.
Comments: The results of the meeting are more than clear: Most candidate countries from the Western Balkans confirm with their actions that European integration is still a priority for them. The submitting on time of their individual reform agendas, laying out the socio-economic and fundamental reforms, is a clear proof of this. Regardless of Macedonian Prime Minister Mickoski’s attempts to “show muscles”. However, we should take into account his pre-election promises, with which he won the elections in North Macedonia.
From her side Von der Leyen proved with the meeting with the leaders of the countries of the Western Balkans that during her new mandate she will pay special attention to this region and to the EU enlargement process in general.
And one more very important observation: At the beginning of last week, European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhei stated that the European Commission’s goal is to hold intergovernmental conferences with Serbia, Albania and possibly North Macedonia in October. The conditionality for Skopje is due to the postponement of constitutional changes, which are a condition for holding a second conference and starting membership negotiations (referring to European Council decision, and no more to “French proposal”).
Skopje has already started with the accusations against Bulgaria. In October we will see.
