Enlargement in the Time of Covid-19 – a Balkan Reflection

This was particularly important for North Macedonia in view of the political crisis created there, after the October 2019 non-decision. Indeed, following the failure of the October 2019 European Council to grant them the green light to start accession talks, Prime Minister Zaev announced there would be a snap parliamentary election and created a transitional, technical government. Arguably, the incumbent government’s pro-European electoral agenda is highly dependent on the EU’s decision to start the negotiations. Postponing the decision again could have undermined their electoral success and contributed to the return to power of the previously ousted political party (VMRO), with an uncertain future for the implementation of the Prespa agreement with Greece.

Fighting the influence of non-EU actors in the western Balkans

Looking at the rest of the region, recent developments in Serbia provide another simple explanation for the EU’s decision last week. The most recent actions and statements of the political leadership in Serbia, most notably its president, are a true token of what the European Commission (as well as numerous experts in the Balkans) warned about in early 2018: the increasing influence of non-EU actors in several countries of the region. In the most widely followed address to the nation, in which he announced the start of the state of emergency in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Serbian president spoke about the end of European solidarity, clearly announcing that Serbia could not count on the help of its neighbor, the EU, while it could only rely on its brotherhood with remote China.

One can argue that EU member states realized that for the geo-political aspirations to become more than a simple declaration, concrete action was needed to support the European path of the two countries which were at that moment perhaps at a turning point on their way to the EU.

The EU may be slow to act in times of crises, and its sheer size and complexity do often lead to delays in making decisions. But over the past week, there has been increasing recognition of the need to look for joint solutions and responses as well as to promote European solidarity. What the EU must not forget in the future is that its Balkan brethren make part of its polity and that this region is the first and ideal place for the Union to display its geopolitical capacity. To include in its crises-related actions and policy considerations these six countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and Serbia - which in total have a population smaller than Romania, should not represent a major challenge and could serve as a perfect exercise for its newly announced grand aspirations.

Copyright : Michal Cizek / AFP