European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday (May 31) presented a four-point “new growth plan” for the Balkans. It is a question of accelerating the accession to the Union of the six Western Balkan countries (Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
The plan is to open up the benefits of the single market to candidates even before accession in the area of ??e-commerce and cybersecurity. Ursula von der Leyen also wants deepening regional economic integration between the Balkan countries.
It expects from them an acceleration of reforms such as reliable and independent justice which reassures European investments. In return, it promises an increase in pre-accession funds, which, for the period 2021-2027, are 14.1 billion euros – including part for Turkey.
Von der Leyen’s proposal may come as a surprise at a time when unprecedented violence has erupted in Kosovo. Demonstrators from the Serbian minority attacked NATO soldiers on the sidelines of protests against the arrival of Albanian-speaking mayors… NATO’s secretary general announced on Tuesday the deployment of 700 additional soldiers.
Ursula von der Leyen is not unaware of the tensions in Kosovo, which they consider “obviously worrying”. “I call on all parties to come out of the confrontation and take steps to restore calm,” she said from Bratislava, Slovakia, home of GlobSec, an international conference on global security.
At the last EU-Balkans summit, in Tirana, Albania, the Europeans had already raised their promises of support for the Western Balkans. They had pledged investments of €9 billion and €1 billion in collateral, hoping that the private sector and banks would follow with another €20 billion. It’s not really much, because these 9 billion euros represent as much as what Bulgaria alone receives.
For now, the European Union (EU) cannot change the economic deal. Contrary to popular belief, it is the EU that benefits from the Balkans and not the other way around. The region, which depends on more than 70% of its trade with the EU, is in trade deficit of around 7.5 to 9.7 billion euros per year…
The Balkans, tired of waiting for membership, have undertaken, for some of them, to create their own regional market. “It is absolutely necessary to make the Western Balkans more attractive for European investors. And if based on European rules and standards, this regional common market can also contribute to accelerating accession to our Union”, hopes Ursula von der Leyen.
Macedonia has been a candidate since December 2005, Montenegro since December 2010, Serbia since March 2012, Albania since June 2014. Local disputes between Greece and then Bulgaria have delayed the start of negotiations with North Macedonia and the ‘Albania. Bosnia and Herzegovina has only been a candidate since December 15, 2022.
