Leaders of the EU and the Balkans meet in Albania in search of accelerating accession to the bloc

BRUSELAS, 5 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The leaders of the European Union meet this Tuesday in Albania in a summit with their counterparts from the Balkans that will serve to give a new signal of support for the region and in which they will take the opportunity to call for acceleration of their adhesion to the community club in the middle of the war of Russian aggression in Ukraine, a conflict with resonance in the Balkans.

Despite the fact that the summit is not planned as an appointment focused on the enlargement of the EU, the issue will be present with the consideration of the status of candidate to join the EU for Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the positive opinion of the European Commission in October , and the liberalization of visas to Kosovo agreed by the Twenty-seven for 2024.

These are two winks for the region, in addition to the formal opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, with which the EU intends to revive the European perspective of the Balkans and relations in general with the region, stuck for years by the lack of real progress in getting into the community club.

At a press conference from Slovenia, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, insisted on Monday that the decision on Bosnia must be taken on December 13 at the meeting of the Twenty-seven European affairs ministers. "That will be the moment of truth," said the former Belgian prime minister, although European sources take it for granted that the issue will already be on the table in Tirana, even more so after the leaders of Croatia or Slovenia have clearly expressed themselves to please give this status to Bosnia.

Michel, yes, has advanced that if the evaluation is positive and there is a consensus to Twenty-seven, the decision will be formally taken to the European Council two days later, on December 15. In Brussels they stressed that the Enlargement policy follows its own logic and rhythm, but they advance that the European leaders will ask their Balkan colleagues to accelerate the path of accession, through the reforms committed to the bloc.

The summit comes at a key geopolitical moment for Europe with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and that is why the leaders of the Twenty-seven will ask for total alignment of the region with the foreign policy of the EU, to which all the Balkan partners they aspire to enter. The situation in Serbia, Russia's main partner in the region, is particularly worrying and has avoided joining Western sanctions against Moscow.

In addition, it will be the first time that the EU-Balkans summit is held in the region, in another sign of convergence with the countries of the region and that follows the idea of ​​having more harmony and influence in the area. In the section on concrete results, the Twenty-seven emphasize achieving more cooperation on issues such as energy - through joint purchases of gas -, advancing towards greater economic integration with the region, as well as ending roaming ' in the Balkans or succeed in increasing joint military capabilities.

The meeting will produce a political declaration of the Twenty-seven, which the Balkan countries are expected to support, in what would be understood as a sign of important political alignment of the countries of the area in the face of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The summit comes heated by the threat of the Serbian president, Aleksandar Vucic, to boycott the meeting in which he will meet the Kosovar prime minister, Albin Kurti, in a new level of tensions between Belgrade and his former province over the controversial Kosovar law, to impose documents and license plates on Kosovar Serb communities.

Vucic announced his absence in Tirana last week, after charging against Kurti, whom he called "terrorist scum" after Pristina appointed a minister from the Kosovar Serb community far from the influence of Belgrade, an appointment that Brussels warned is against procedures contained in the Kosovar Constitution.

Finally, the Serbian president has backtracked, stating that Serbia will benefit more from attending than absent from the summit with the European leaders. From Brussels it was hoped that he could finally come, understanding that the "fragile" situation in relations between Belgrade and Pristina requires dialogue and cooperation and putting aside unilateral actions that exacerbate tensions.