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Today’s biggest conflicts – Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and Israel’s war with Hamas – could have “disastrous” consequences for already high tensions in the Western Balkans, Albanian prime minister says Edi Rama.
Headlines from the Atlantic Council event Welcomed Monday by the Council’s Europe Center, Rama called Hamas and its supporters “real agents of chaos” and said that if the chaos spreads more widely, simmering tensions in the Western Balkans could boil over.
The six countries that make up the Western Balkans must therefore “work day and night to keep the conflict beyond the borders of our region,” Rama said.
Below are other highlights from the conversation, moderated by Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe, who addressed the Kosovo-Serbia conflict, Albania’s new migrant deal with Italy and Albania’s path to the European Union (EU).
Regional tensions
- On September 24, thirty armed and masked Serbs started a shootout and barricaded themselves inside an Orthodox monastery in northern Kosovo, in an event that cost the lives of an officer and three of the attackers. Rama said the event was a “strong sign” and a “wake-up call” about how this unresolved issue can be “detrimental” to regional cooperation and peace.
- Rama explained that although the situation has improved somewhat, the region must work together to ensure both “full recognition of Kosovo” and “final peace”.
- Rama said he was encouraged by Kosovar authorities’ positive reception of a proposal to create an association of Serbian municipalities, which would work on education, health care and economic development for the Serbian majority populations. It would also be Unblock normalization talks with Serbia. If Kosovo accepts the plan, “it will be huge,” Rama said. “Huge for Kosovo (and) huge for the good of the region. »
- While Albania, which is celebrating 111 years of independence, and the region have come a long way, Rama said they need to do “much more” to address the challenges that remain. With the world so “interconnected,” as Rama argued, each of the six Western Balkan countries has a responsibility “to improve our countries, to improve our region and to improve the world.” One without the others doesn’t really work.”
Migration crisis
- Tirana recently concluded an agreement with Rome to create centers in Albania under Italian jurisdiction intended to accommodate migrants seeking asylum in Italy. The agreement was critical, with rights groups arguing the deal is illegal. It also sparked comparisons with the UK’s plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda.
- In response to these criticisms, Rama argued that the agreement was “100% within the framework of the criteria of the European Union and international law” and that the migrant centers would be built and operate according to the standards of the EU.
- He claimed the deal had faced such criticism because it was an agreement between an EU member and a non-member. “It shows the prejudice” against European countries that are not members of the European Union, he said.
EU membership
- Since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, there has been a “major shift” in the European Union’s attitude towards the Western Balkans, Rama said. “The idea of the region as a very important geopolitical asset for the EU has practically come to fruition,” he explained.
- However, he warned, the EU’s new vision towards the Western Balkans does not mean that the full integration and membership of Albania and other countries will happen quickly; “It will take time,” he said.
- Last month, at the Berlin Process leaders’ summit, hosted by Rama in Tirana, the EU launched a new growth plan grant the six Western Balkan countries access to the EU single market – and require them to implement reforms, which would be rewarded with investment.
- “We are in a completely new phase in our relations with the EU,” Rama said, explaining that a few years ago this proposal would have been “really utopian”. The EU and the Western Balkans, he argued, are increasingly deepening their “partnership,” “dialogue” and “mutual respect.”
- “I hope this will bring new energy and give more reasons to never abandon the European Union,” the Prime Minister said.
Katherine Walla is deputy editorial director at the Atlantic Council.
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Further reading
Image: Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama gestures during the press conference of the informal meeting with the leaders of the alliance members in the Western Balkans: Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia in Skopje, North Macedonia , November 22, 2023. Photo via REUTERS /Ognen Teofilovski.