Britain’s role in the Balkans: why Boris Johnson is about to turn pro-European

Here is a paradox of Brexit Britain. This summer, at a summit in London hosted by the British Foreign Office, a Brexit supporter – Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson – will be the designated advocate for Western Balkan states to join the EU. A country preparing to leave the EU will preach the membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro to the European Union. A country seeking to “regain control” in the face of the brutality of Brussels will advise others to abandon their sovereignty for the benefit of this same superstate. What is happening here?

The London summit in July will host the leaders of the six Western Balkan states as well as those of Britain, Germany, Italy, France and Austria. This is part of what we call Berlin Processan intergovernmental initiative launched by Angela Merkel in 2014 whose objective was to contribute to the development of the Western Balkans by focusing on investment, connectivity, infrastructure and regional cooperation, with the ultimate aim of their join the EU.

So far, as part of the process, a Regional Youth Cooperation Office was created to “promote the spirit of reconciliation and cooperation among young people in the region through youth exchange programs”. A agreement was also signed for the settlement of bilateral disputes. There is also talk of a Western Balkans economic area, where goods, services, investments and skilled workers could circulate without obstacles.

The Berlin Process includes, on the EU side, the five strongest and largest member states. Every summer, the leaders of these countries meet with the leaders of the six Western Balkan countries to reaffirm their commitment to the region’s European integration. They also aim to attract investment pledges and take a family photo at a high-profile summit.

Today, following a commitment made in 2014, it is Great Britain’s turn to host this summit. The 2018 meeting is an opportunity for the UK to show that it has something substantial to contribute to European affairs despite Brexit. After all, until now, each host has shaped the agenda by including their own expertise. In Vienna, three years ago, it was the commitment of civil society, in Paris, two years ago, it was climate change. Last year’s peak at Trieste dealt with the rule of law and the fight against corruption.

Delicate scale

Despite its imminent departure from the EU, Britain still has a useful role to play in the Berlin process. This could include its security expertise as a strong military nation that remains an enthusiastic member of NATO. As geopolitics takes on increasing importance for Europe’s foreign policy, the Western Balkans constitute one of the most vulnerable regions on the continent. From a security point of view, the region is highly exposed to risks on the periphery of Europe.

Security risks in the region include a general fear of a return to the wars of the 1990s between some post-Yugoslav states, the threat of Islamic fundamentalismthe rise of organized crime, geopolitical and geo-economic competition from China, Russia and Turkey.

Then there are the existing bilateral disputes between the post-Yugoslav states. All have unresolved border issues – some of them subject to international arbitration. And all these disputes affect stability. Neither state has threatened to use military force against each other to resolve these issues, but any foreign security assistance provided to one country may be seen as thwarting the neighboring country’s interests.

Focusing so much on the issue of security can also harm political progress. The region’s inhabitants are increasingly experiencing a decline in democracy.

As the recent House of Lords report There are “serious concerns that gains made in good governance and the rule of law may be lost as countries in the region turn to authoritarian leadership, nationalist politics and state capture “. And a recent report by Human Rights Watch found that most countries in the region still face serious challenges in respecting human rights standards.

With security in the Western Balkans having been the primary concern for so long, these concerns have, for the most part, fallen on deaf ears in Western capitals. Geopolitical concerns have allowed local leaders and governments to benefit from lax political conditionality in the name of security and stability – what has been termed “stabilitocracy”. As a result, liberal policy deteriorated and the progress made during the 2000s eroded.

It is important that any security agenda embraces democracy, human rights and the rule of law – the “holy trinity” of political transformation, which itself is a necessary condition for security and stability In the region. This should be the common objective of the Berlin process and the European Commission, the latter having recently adopted a new enlargement strategy for the candidate states of the Western Balkans. The biggest challenge for Johnson and the Foreign Office, on this particular occasion, is to find ways to cooperate effectively with the European Union, with a view to including the Western Balkan countries in the European family, at some point where the United Kingdom excludes itself. From this.