EU restates marriage proposal to Balkan hopefuls



The EU has restated its marriage proposal to Western Balkan aspirants, while quietly warning them on Chinese and Russian influence.

“The EU once again reaffirms its unequivocal support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans,” the bloc’s 27 leaders said in what they called the “Zagreb Declaration”, after meeting their six Balkan counterparts in a video-summit on Wednesday (20 May).

“This Zagreb summit sends a strong message – EU 27 are committed to the region,” EU Council president Charles Michel also told press.

“It is a very important signal. It is a very important message that we have reaffirmed, that we have reconfirmed. It’s essential to give this strong position, to express this strong position,” he added.

“Their objective is the European Union and this summit is helping them to go in the right direction,” Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic also said.

The summit was meant to have taken place in the Croatian capital.

And it was meant to have been the jewel in the crown of Croatia’s six-month EU presidency, coming a symbolic 20 years after the EU first met Balkans hopefuls in Zagreb to begin the integration process.

Since then, Croatia and Slovenia have joined.

Montenegro and Serbia have started accession talks. Albania and North Macedonia are starting theirs shortly, with Kosovo and Bosnia trailing behind.

Meanwhile, Wednesday’s summit declaration also tacitly referred to the spread of Chinese and Russian influence in the region in recent years, via a mixture of strategic investment, coercive diplomacy, and disinformation.

“The EU reiterates its calls on all partners to progress towards full alignment with EU foreign policy positions, notably on issues where major common interests are at stake, and to act accordingly,” the declaration said.

The message is “you cannot pander to the Chinese and the Russians when it suits you”, an EU diplomat told the Reuters news agency prior to the talks.

The EU, earlier this week, earmarked €3.3bn to help the six EU aspirants fight coronavirus and keep their economies going, in a mixture of grants and loans.

They also promised a “robust economic and investment plan” for regional economies on Wednesday after the pandemic abates.

“The fact that this support and cooperation goes far beyond what any other partner has provided to the region deserves public acknowledgement,” the EU summit statement said, in another tacit reference to China and Russia, who had widely publicised their (much smaller) anti-virus assistance to the Western Balkans.

Despite the warm words on Wednesday, EU countries recently agreed, under French pressure, to create a new enlargement methodology that will see democratic backsliders punished by reversals in their EU negotiations.

“The credibility of this commitment (to EU accession) depends also on clear public communication and the implementation of the necessary reforms (by the hopefuls),” the summit declaration said.

“It is important to continue the reforms, to implement the reforms, the rule of law, the democratic values, and the fight against corruption,” the EU’s Michel also said after the summit.

But there were no detailed talks on how to solve regional problems, such as Kosovo and Serbia’s mini-Cold War.

For his part, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told press, in the run-up to the summit, it was up to the two sides to agree terms of future normal relations.

And some took that as thinly-veiled support for a land-swap deal despite German fears that could destabilise the region.

There was also no talk on Wednesday of imminent future enlargement, as Europe, and the rest of the world, continued to focus its attention on fighting coronavirus for now.

LO MÁS LEÍDO

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