27.May
The European Union surrounds the Western Balkans. However, it is unlikely that the five candidate countries will become members of the bloc during this decade.
Slovenia entered the EU in 2004 and Croatia in 2013, and no other country has joined since. Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia are still in the waiting room.
In the meantime, a country had left, and Brexit marked a historic and rather traumatic experience for both the UK and the EU.
Last month, two alleged undocumented migrants, revealed by media in Slovenia and Kosovo, shook the region. Borders are being redrawn so that Serbia, Croatia and Albania expand by taking parts of neighboring Bosnia, North Macedonia and Kosovo. Another suggests autonomy for the Serb minority in northern Kosovo to resolve the long-standing problem between Serbia and its southern province which declared its independence in 2008.
While the German and French embassies in Kosovo have both denied being behind the discussion document relating to negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo, the Slovenian government has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the document. signed which emphasizes that the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia is not yet complete and that ethnic borders should be established in place of those that already exist.
Experts believe that these two programs are extremely dangerous, even provocative of war, and accuse the EU of inaction which leaves the possibility for Russia, Turkey and China to strengthen their influence in this part of the continent.
Last week, Slovenia hosted a summit of Western Balkan heads of state, but the group was unable to agree on the inviolability of the region’s existing borders, as it had planned. The joint declaration stressed the importance of reforms in candidate countries and faster enlargement procedures within the EU, but did not include a single word on borders.
“We agreed on a declaration text, which is a compromise. Someone would say the lowest common denominator, but I say compromise. There were certain disputes, disagreements,” declared the Croatian president Zoran Milanovic.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić insisted that only states complying with the UN charter be included. However, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, refused since the United Nations did not recognize Kosovo.
“Croatia and Slovenia want to help the Western Balkan countries in their move towards the EU, but it would not be possible (for us) to resolve their bilateral problems,” Milanović added.
Picture: William-Jean Gauthier
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