The difference between irony and sarcasm depends on the intention of the speaker and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish one resource from the other, but there is no doubt about the sentiment that exudes the tweets and comments of the Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, a frustration shared by the leaders of the six Balkan countries convened today for a summit in Brussels with their colleagues from the European Union, a meeting in which several countries briefly considered not attending due to the lack of prospects.
“Waiting for Godot? No, we are used to this farce and more committed than ever to making our countries progress and modernizing our region with an unwavering European spirit,” Rama wrote before the meeting along with a photo with his counterpart from North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovacevski, two candidate countries that have been waiting for as many years for Bulgaria to lift the veto at the start of their accession negotiations. “A nice place, nice people, good words… Imagine how nice it would be if the nice promises were followed by good results”, he commented on the family photograph that the leaders of both blocks have taken in the iconic building of the Council at the end of the summit.
Attempts against the clock for Bulgaria to lift its veto at the start of accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia, motivated by bilateral problems of an ethnic nature with the latter, have failed and the European Union has today found itself empty-handed in the face of the half dozen Balkan countries that, at one stage or another, have aspired for decades to enter the club and now find that Ukraine and Georgia are going to be given candidate status by express route. “Better not get your hopes up,” Rama advised the Ukrainians. “North Macedonia has been a candidate for 17 years and Albania for 8, so welcome Ukraine…”
Serbia, for its part, began accession talks in 2014 but the process has barely advanced due to its friction with Pristina and, in its opinion, a lack of will on the part of the EU, which, on the other hand, is suspicious of its refusal. to participate in the international isolation of Russia in the wake of the war in Ukraine. Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina are finally still waiting for their status as EU candidates to be recognised. The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, intended to use this summit to “inject energy” into the enlargement process, even more relevant in the midst of the war in Ukraine, it is now said in Brussels, but the road is full of obstacles.
“This is a serious blow to the credibility of the EU, we are wasting time that we do not have,” the Prime Minister of North Macedonia complained in a press appearance along with his colleagues from Albania and Serbia, openly “dissatisfied” with the situation. “It is time for the EU to fulfill its promises before making new ones,” Kovacevski asked regarding the concession of a candidate country to Ukraine.
“I’m sorry for the EU, I feel sorry for it. I hope we can help,” Rama said by way of introduction before assessing, unequivocally, the current moment. “This is a divided house, it is very worrying”… “Let’s be honest, the problem is not just Bulgaria. The spirit of enlargement has gone from being a common vision to a car for kidnapping”, he said, referring to the status of Albania and North Macedonia as “hostages” of Sofia.
The press appearance of the leaders of Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia has shown that the tensions between the Balkan neighbors but also their good humor. Rama, for example, has disgraced his colleague from Serbia that Vladimir Putin has “80% popularity” in his country and the lack of enthusiasm of his public opinion for Brussels, and has marked distances with the level of appreciation towards the EU in a country. However, the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, has avoided reacting to the Albanian leader’s remarks and has taken some of his pujas with humor. Despite everything, it was “a good summit”, said Vucic.
In the middle of the week, the leaders of Albania and Serbia briefly considered not attending today’s summit; they did so, while making it clear that they expected “nothing” from the meeting. The Kosovar president, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, has warned that if the EU leaves room for “other actors” it is evident that “they will use it” to try to influence. Beyond Russia, China and Turkey have also gained ground in the region.
Behind closed doors, the discussions between the leaders have been “frank and direct”, explained European diplomatic sources. Be that as it may, the meeting has gone on longer than necessary and President Charles Michel has opted at the last minute to cancel the press conference that he was going to offer after the summit together with the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the French President Emmanuel Macron to report on the talks. Diplomatic sources from the Balkan region loitered among the journalists airing their disappointment and frustration at this annulment that the EU has justified for agenda reasons, since the European Council was to begin next.
Despite the good words, European leaders are aware that the situation is problematic. “We are not where we should be with the Western Balkans. Today we should launch negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia and I cannot hide my disappointment”, said the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU and Vice President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell , who has once again advocated limiting the veto power in foreign policy decisions to avoid situations like this. Borrell studies formulas to regularly invite the heads of diplomacy of these countries to the monthly meetings of the EU foreign ministers.
It is the kind of club outreach initiatives that European leaders have discussed launching with their Balkan counterparts, who expect tangible action. The draft conclusions of the summit that began this afternoon in Brussels reiterate that there is “a full and unequivocal commitment to the prospect of accession to the EU of the Western Balkans”. In times of war, the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, has said for her part, enlargement “has to be seen as a way for the EU to establish its geopolitical security.”
Despite doubts about the viability of the EU enlargement process and the bad experience of the Balkans, the Twenty-seven will pronounce themselves today resoundingly in favor of granting Ukraine the status of a candidate country for the EU club, as well as Georgia, which presented his request almost at the same time, just days after the Russian invasion began. The green light to Kyyv, Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU Chentsov Vsevolod told Reuters, is “a strong signal to Moscow that Ukraine and other countries of the former USSR cannot belong to Russia’s spheres of influence.”
