The unfinished EU: the integration of the Western Balkans as a geostrategic imperative
The current moment is an opportunity for both the EU and the Western Balkans to demonstrate the ability of strategic foresight, fully restore the credibility of enlargement and strengthen mutual trust that has been partially lost over the years.
20 years of EU promises
Twenty years have passed since the historic summit in Thessaloniki, where the EU said that the future of the Western Balkans is in the EU - a promise that the President of the European Commission repeated in her speech on the State of the Union in 2023. At that time, the devastating so-called Yugoslav wars, and the borders finally changed with the independence of Montenegro and then Kosovo. The expansion of the EU to ten countries of Central and Eastern Europe took place in 2004, Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007, and Croatia in 2013. The driving force behind this process was a strong vision of the reunification of the European continent, as well as the existence of a strong political will in the countries of Central, of Eastern and Southeastern Europe for membership in the European family. The countries of the Western Balkans had similar motives for joining the EU.
Twenty years later, the countries of the Western Balkans still have not joined the European Union. Sometimes it seems that EU membership has lost the appeal it had two decades ago. The numerous crises that the world and the EU went through during this period reduced the inclination within the Union for enlargement. At the same time, some of the countries of the Western Balkans have shown limited political will to implement much-needed EU reforms, thereby providing skeptics of enlargement within the Union with arguments against their integration. In short, the enlargement process took place more slowly and with less visible and tangible results than expected, which led to disappointment and alienation from the EU. The Union and the Western Balkans - intentionally or unintentionally - have not found an acceptable level of common language.
The moment is right for geostrategic expansion
Russian aggression against Ukraine made EU membership even more attractive for the countries of the Eastern Partnership - Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. At the same time, the countries of the Western Balkans face unprecedented threats to stability, as well as increased foreign policy doubts. Awareness of the favorable opportunity for EU enlargement has increased, thus raising expectations vis-à-vis the European Union.
We welcome the new approach to EU enlargement, which, unlike earlier periods, gives more importance to the geostrategic perspective, without bureaucratizing it. Last year's decision to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status was based on strategic considerations. There is a growing awareness that enlargement policy is the EU's most powerful stabilization instrument. However, it is necessary to point out that this strategic approach must not mean lowering the standards of EU enlargement. Full implementation of reforms remains crucial.
The current moment is an opportunity for both the European Union and the Western Balkans to demonstrate the ability of strategic foresight, completely restore the credibility of enlargement and strengthen mutual trust that has been partially lost over the years. There are several concrete steps that should be taken without delay.
First, the European Union must open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of this year. Second, Montenegro must continue its reform path towards the EU, which depends on the formation of a new government in the country. Third, progress is needed in the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. In North Macedonia, the next steps depend on the country's ability to enact the necessary constitutional changes. The latter case is a reminder that the EU member states and the countries of the Western Balkans should play a responsible role and refrain from burdening the negotiation process with bilateral problems and disputes that are not directly related to it.
For the gradual, accelerated integration of the Western Balkans into the EU
The debate on institutional and financial preparations to integrate new members into the European Union is gaining momentum. This should not be an excuse to delay the enlargement process for our partners in the Western Balkans, on the contrary, we must now start using the existing frameworks to speed up the enlargement process.
In order to speed up the process, EU institutions should be more creative and adapt to the demands of the times we live in. The process should be less complex and more results-oriented. We have to find ways to make it closer to the citizens, and to connect the reform progress itself with the benefits that they will concretely feel. We also need to cooperate more dynamically with the countries of the Western Balkans so that they too can more easily understand the political will of Brussels. From June 2022, the European Council clearly requires additional improvement of the gradual integration of candidate countries already during the enlargement process. In June 2023, as "Friends of the Western Balkans", together with our colleagues from the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Slovakia, we invited the EU institutions to present a clear plan for gradual and accelerated integration, with concrete implementation steps until 2024 and beyond. It would be based on fair and rigorous conditions and the principle of own achievements. We see many possibilities, from inviting our colleagues from the Western Balkans to the Council for Foreign Affairs more often, to opening additional areas of public policies, such as education, science, transport or trade, for their gradual inclusion.
In conclusion, the EU must consider the true value of its own enlargement, including the ability to make acceding countries a better place for their citizens to live by creating a more prosperous environment for young people to fulfill their dreams. Our Western Balkans and our Eastern partners deserve this opportunity, just as EU citizens deserve a wider area of stability and prosperity around the current borders of the EU. EU enlargement is not one of the political options; it is today - a geostrategic imperative.
T. Fajon is the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia,
A. Schallenberg is the Minister of European and International Affairs of Austria,
Gordan Radman Grlić is the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia