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European Commissioner Kos: EU enlargement to the Western Balkans is accelerating, influenced by geopolitics
2025-02-16 19:28:17 / POLITIKË
European Union representatives emphasized at the Munich Security Conference that the Western Balkans' membership in the EU will be accelerated, considering the achievement of criteria and merit.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, said today in a panel discussion during this conference that, in addition to the required standards, geopolitics and the will of member states also have a significant impact on new memberships.
The Prime Ministers of Albania and North Macedonia, Rama and Mickoski, expressed their determination for this membership, calling for the acceleration of the process.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, said today in Munich that the enlargement process is being affected by geopolitics, while countries are technically meeting the requirements.
Speaking at the security conference's panel discussion on the readiness to accelerate the Balkans' EU membership, Commissioner Kos said that EU membership has become more difficult now, unlike a few years ago when some economic issues were considered.
She added that now there are external forces that influence, divide and want to see the EU fail, so the priority is not only enlargement, but the European Union, so the accession process is becoming increasingly important, because the EU was created to preserve peace, freedom, security and prosperity and this is where its strength lies.
"When it comes to the technical part, we can conclude with Montenegro and Albania by 2026 or 2027, but there is also a political part, which means that no important step can be taken without the will of the member states," said Commissioner Kos.
She emphasized that we need to talk to member states about what they can do in terms of merit, but also in terms of political will, because geopolitics plays an important role, and that enlargement could be the most important element of the security guarantee.
Commissioner Kos emphasized that a distinction should be made between the technical and political parts of the process, while some people see a discrepancy between the merit-based process and geopolitics, or between values and the economic process, but if the situation is taken into account, much more can be done.
In addition to the Western Balkan countries, she added that several countries from northern Europe are reassessing the possibility of joining the EU, emphasizing on the other hand that the enlargement process is accelerating, especially with Ukraine, and that the EU is working 2-3 times faster than it usually does.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Edi Rama said that Albania has long wanted and been trying to join the EU, which, together with the Western Balkans, must become increasingly capable of adapting to new challenges and making up for lost time with so many regulations and negotiations and so little action.
“I think this can now be accelerated much more and the EU needs to change,” said Mr. Rama. He noted that the EU is changing very slowly and very little, even though it has changed its stance towards the Western Balkans and in terms of the pace of approximation with it, but according to him, the EU today really needs the Western Balkans.
The Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Hristijan Mickoski, recalled that Skopje started its journey to the EU long before Albania and Croatia, two and a half decades ago, and now Croatia is part of the EU, but Northern Macedonia has remained in the same place it was two and a half decades ago.
"Our goal is and will remain to become part of the European Union and there is and should be no doubt about this," said Mr. Mickoski. He noted that the merit-based process seems to Skopje to be an ever-shifting and complicated objective, because some countries occasionally add demands to North Macedonia, such as changing the name or flag, etc., which affect the country's internal issues and bring suffering from double standards.
EU representatives believe that bilateral issues should be resolved outside the European Union and that they occasionally hinder countries' progress towards the European Union.
Commissioner Kos said that it is now time to move forward in the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, between Sofia and Skopje, and Bosnia as well, because now is the right time to strengthen the European Union in terms of security, defense and peace. /VOA
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