EC President: Albania and Montenegro can join the EU before others!
European Council President António Costa has sought to reassure EU candidate countries in the Western Balkans, saying the continent's future stability and prosperity depend on the bloc's enlargement.
Speaking ahead of a tour of the region, Costa promised them that the EU was committed to relaunching the accession process, which has stalled of late, partly due to reluctance from member states. Costa also called on candidate countries to commit to reforms. At the heart of his mission in the Western Balkans is the need for Brussels not to lose strategic control over a key region.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has accelerated the accession process for Ukraine and Moldova, so it is not fair for the Western Balkan countries to be overtaken by Ukraine and Moldova, and this will push them to move faster with reforms," he said on the eve of his diplomatic tour of the six Western Balkan countries.
The European Council President's first stop will be Serbia, a country that has been mired in political crisis for months. On the same day, Costa will also visit Bosnia and Herzegovina, before meeting the Head of State and Government of Kosovo on Wednesday.
The next day he will visit North Macedonia. His last stop will be Albania, where he will attend the European Political Community (EPC) summit on Friday in Tirana. The EPC is an intergovernmental political strategy forum uniting over forty European countries, which was created in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
EU enlargement to the Western Balkans will be high on the agenda at the summit due to growing instability in the region. Leaders of EU member states fear that outside powers are establishing their foothold in a region that is an integral part of Europe.
"On the part of the European Council, there is a broad political consensus that enlargement is the most important geopolitical investment that can be made for the stability, peace and prosperity of all of Europe, including the countries of the Western Balkans ," Costa said.
The President of the European Council noted that "the EU and the Western Balkan countries share a common vision, as they belong to the European family". "That is why we must work so that they can officially join this family, within the European Union, " he added.
What is the timetable for EU accession?
European institutions have often pointed to 2030 as the target date for the first accessions to the EU, especially those of Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. However, Brussels is now talking only about Albania and Montenegro. " I don't have a specific date. Why 2030? And why not earlier? Accession is a merit-based process. If countries carry out reforms, they could even join before 2030, " Costa said. "But it is precisely the merits that can change. Albania and Montenegro are clearly more advanced than the other countries."
However, Russia's war in Ukraine has led to a resurgence of tensions in the Western Balkans, particularly in relation to tensions in Bosnia and between Serbia and Kosovo.
" I know of no better incentive to overcome the conflicts that are still open than this unique opportunity, which is membership in the European Union. It is the best condition to offer the countries of the Western Balkans an opportunity for prosperity that they would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere," Costa said.
According to numerous opinion polls, most Serbs have lost interest in the EU due to the bloc's hesitation about enlargement. " The most important thing is to understand the meaning of the European Union. Last week, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, the first step towards today's union," Costa noted. "What really built the EU was the will to overcome the wounds of history," he concluded.
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