The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, begins a tour of the Western Balkans tomorrow, where she will visit all the candidate countries for membership in the European Union, which hope after years of waiting to benefit from the return of enlargement to the EU agenda, reported France Press and BTA.
Ursula von der Leyen’s fourth visit to the region is a “clear signal” that this process is back on the agenda, said researcher and member of the Bruegel think tank Heather Grabe.
“For her to go there so early in her second term and for her to go there regularly is an important political gesture because she shows her interest and commitment,” Grabe added.
Her predecessor, Jose Manuel Barroso, visited the Balkans only once in his first term. And before him, Jean-Claude Juncker said that there would be no enlargement within his presidency, Grabe recalls.
For the EU accession candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, this visit is also an opportunity to show that they have undertaken the reforms necessary for EU accession.
The debate on the expansion to this bloc surrounded by EU member states with just under 18 million inhabitants (the Western Balkans – note ed.) has been going on for 20 years. During this period, both the citizens’ support for joining the EU and the political will to implement the expected reforms decreased in individual countries.
However, the position is different after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which revived this process. “The emergency situation around Ukraine and Moldova helped” in the Balkans, Grabe explained.
“I assume that her tour will have a rather optimistic tone,” said the vice-president of the non-governmental organization “European Movement” in Serbia Jelica Minic, adding that a new mechanism has just been launched to bring the entire region closer to the EU, and this is the growth plan set in motion in November 2023.
For the fight against the economic influence of China and Russia in the Western Balkans, the EU has “put on the table” six billion euros in the form of a Growth Plan, the aim of which is to double the economic capacity of the region.
The plan is structured around four pillars: integration into the single market, common regional market, acceleration of major reforms and increased financial assistance.
However, the disbursement of the funds is linked to strict conditions for the implementation of the reforms, especially for the harmonization of the partners with the common foreign and security policy.
The diplomatic harmonization required of the candidate countries is likely to be “on the menu” of the talks, especially in Serbia. Belgrade has never imposed sanctions on Moscow, and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Sunday for Russia providing Serbia with enough gas for the winter.
The head of the Jacques Delors European Institute, Luka Macek, believes that everything Von der Leyen says and does in Serbia will be monitored.
“What she will say, what she will do in Serbia, that will be watched, because maybe she was criticized (earlier), as well as other European representatives, for not clearly telling Vucic where the borders are, what the EU can do and what cannot accept in terms of illiberal politics,” Macek said.
Vucic, who has made constant shifts in his positions between East and West a key part of his foreign policy, declined Putin’s invitation to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan, saying he was expecting important visits to Serbia.
Another burning issue that could be the subject of von der Leyen’s talks is the order of accession to the EU, as some of the candidate countries are tired of their 20-year wait.
“I do not believe that full membership is possible before the expiration of this Commission’s mandate (in 2030),” Macek noted. “I think it is possible that some countries, like Montenegro, and maybe some others, can secure the conclusion of the negotiations by the end of the mandate.”