Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman attends the meeting of European Union foreign ministers, in Luxembourg June 21, 2021. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool Acquire license rights
BRUSSELS, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Democracy is in danger in Balkan countries seeking to join the European Union, with Bosnia of particular concern, Croatia’s foreign minister warned on Monday as the country’s top diplomat The EU promised to revive North Macedonia. membership offer.
The political crisis in Bosnia, sporadic violence between Kosovo and Serbia and political instability in Montenegro and North Macedonia – amid a stalled EU enlargement process – risk eroding years of progress in the region.
“The situation in the Western Balkans is getting worse, divisions are deepening… we also see a threat to democracy,” Foreign Minister Grlic Radman told reporters.
He also warned against calls for separatism in Bosnia. “Actions echoing the 1990s must stop,” he added, referring to the ethnic conflicts of the decade following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
According to a diplomatic note seen by Reuters, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were briefed on the “increasingly difficult” political situation in the Balkans.
“Public support for European integration is declining and exclusionary nationalist rhetoric and identity politics are gaining momentum,” indicates the diplomatic note distributed among the 27 EU states.
The EU’s strategy to integrate Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia needs new impetus, the note says, recognizing that 18 years of efforts to integrate these countries into the EU are paralyzed.
Bosnia is experiencing its most serious political crisis since the end of the war in the 1990s, reigniting fears of a new conflict after Bosnian Serbs blocked the work of the central government in late July.
Germany under threat Friday to cut financial support for Bosnia, calling calls for parts of Bosnia to secede or weaken the Balkan state “irresponsible and unacceptable” and singling out Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik , as one of the particular culprits.
Under the U.S.-sponsored Dayton Peace Accords that ended the devastating 1992-1995 war, Bosnia was divided into two autonomous regions: the Serbian Republic and the Croatian- and Croatian-dominated Federation. Muslim Bosniaks, bound by a weak central government.
The country’s constitution is part of the peace agreement.
After North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Zoran Zaev avoided a vote of no confidence last week, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter that formal membership negotiations with the EU should start soon. Bulgaria opposes North Macedonia’s membership for linguistic and cultural reasons.
“Our position remains unchanged: North Macedonia and Albania have kept their promises and we look forward to holding the first intergovernmental conferences as soon as possible,” Borrell said, referring to the accession negotiations.
Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by William Maclean
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