Correspondent in Brussels
Thursday, June 23, will go down as a pivotal date in EU history, with promises made to Ukraine and Moldova, and as a moment of powerlessness for the twenty-seven in the face of their neighbors in the Western Balkans. During the summit held in Brussels, the Europeans granted Ukraine and Moldova the official status of EU membership candidate on Thursday evening. These two countries, one at war with Russia, the other partially mutilated and threatened by her, thus, four months after the start of the war, win the precious sesame which may give them hope of joining the Union. Georgia is also offered a European perspective, but without the status of an official candidate.
President of the European Council Charles Michel welcomedhistorical moment“. “There could not be a better sign of hope for the citizens of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in these troubled timessaid the chairman of the commission, Ursula von der Leyen. This “A very strong signal towards Russiacommented Emmanuel Macron. “It’s political, I fully recognize that“, the president also admitted. President Zelensky did not say anything else in the video message.This is the biggest step towards strengthening Europe that can be taken now, in our time, and in the very context of the Russian war, which is testing our ability to preserve freedom and unity.“. Thus, Ukraine gets the status in the EU that it was denied in NATO a few months ago.
The day ended better than it started. Earlier in the afternoon, the leaders of the Western Balkan countries, longtime candidates for EU membership, appeared very angry at their meeting with Twenty-Seven. Moreover, with strong smiles, everyone posed for the traditional family photo of this repeated EU-Balkans summit. “Nice place, nice people, nice words, nice pictures. Imagine how much better it would be if beautiful promises were followed by actionAlbanian Prime Minister Edi Rama joked in the comment on the photo on Twitter.
Lots of disappointments
To avoid awkward questions, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, decided to cancel the press conference dedicated to the meeting, which was to be joined by Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron under the French presidency of the Union. PFUE). Officially for reasons of delay. A choice that is seen by many as a lack of respect for these countries.
The more the EU fails to give a unified and clear signal to the Western Balkans, the more malicious players will exploit that space and vacuum.
Vjosa Osmani, President of Kosovo
The leaders of North Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, which once threatened to boycott the summit before backing down, held their own conference. And they didn’t mince words. “It is a shame that one NATO country, Bulgaria, is hijacking two other NATO countries, Albania and North Macedonia, in a hot war and standing with 26 other countries in a terrible display of helplessness.Eddie replied to Rama, insisting that it wasn’t.disappointed“but above all”sorryfor the EU.
This Western Balkans summit, desired by Emmanuel Macron and announced in December, long before the start of the war in Ukraine, was supposed to provide an opportunity to officially start accession talks for North Macedonia and Albania, as well as to revive the process as a lesson for others. Countries in the region – Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia – some of whom are tired of waiting twenty years in the waiting room of the union. However, their leaders left the meeting empty-handed. Nothing concrete, except for this reassertion of the European perspective. And especially nothing for North Macedonia and Albania. Not only was Bulgaria, which has been besieging Skopje for more than a year amid historical and cultural disputes, very difficult to convince, but just when the French thought their proposal had a chance of being accepted, the country’s government; failed. It was Wednesday, the day before the summit. With North Macedonia blocked, Albania is also held hostage as the two countries must move forward together on membership. Despite everything, Emmanuel Macron continues to believe in it. “The next few hours and days will be important to see if we can find an agreement between North Macedonia and Bulgaria,” he estimated, while the PFUE ends in less than a week. A vote in Bulgaria’s parliament scheduled for Friday is likely to unblock the case.
Forced acceleration
At the EU-Balkan summit, tensions were high enough for Europeans to devote four long afternoons to the topic. In the conclusions of the meeting, the status of the candidate is indicated in black and white, that “The European Council is ready to provideto Bosnia and Herzegovina. The mission of the commission is to be fulfilled “without delay” report on the topic.
Having made promises to Ukraine and Moldova, the Europeans have little choice but to speed up the process for the Western Balkans.”The more the EU fails to give a unified and clear signal to the Western Balkans, the more malicious players will exploit that space and vacuum.summed up the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani. Emmanuel Macron, however, called on the countries that want to join the EU to be careful, judging that not all of them can eventually enter the EU and that the process will take a long time anyway. “It will take time. And we are witnessing a phenomenon of fatigue from zooming in“, he emphasized during the press conference. Before defending again this new settlement which he proposes to create on the continent, the European political community. “We have to think about how to stabilize our neighborhood. And let’s be honest, maybe we won’t always live in the same house, but we will live on the same street.“. The conclusions of the meeting state that “this framework will not replace existing EU policies and instruments, including enlargement, and will fully respect the EU’s decision-making autonomy.“. It is added that “The European Council will return to this matter“.
SEE ALSO Ukraine can count on NATO “as long as it takes”.
Source: Le Figaro
