© Reuters
– EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Joseph Borrell.
Open talks on the “geopolitical approach of the whole region” and “talks not only on enlargement” were the goals of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell during his meeting with leaders in the Western Balkans.
However, some of them, such as Macedonia’s Zoran Zaev, used the occasion to signal that the priority was the path to membership rather than talks on co-operation.
Borrell brought Balkan leaders together for an informal dinner attended by Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Warhey. “The main goal is to reach out to our regional partners, to listen to their views, to understand their concerns, to understand their ideas and to think together about how we can work better in our common future,” he said. write in his pre-dinner statement, a tradition that could not take place last year because of the coronavirus.
The meeting came at a time when the Western Balkans’ prospect of EU membership seems increasingly distant. Serbia is not making progress in the talks, partly due to domestic political developments and the dispute with Kosovo, and two countries ready for negotiations – Albania and Northern Macedonia – cannot continue on their path, in the Macedonian case due to the Bulgarian veto as a result of the bilateral dispute.
Before dinner, Zaev’s press service quotes saying that northern Macedonia has fulfilled all its obligations set out in the EU membership criteria, that the European Commission recognizes this and that it has asked Borrell the EU to “deliver on what it promised” without delay. Indeed, Brussels is pushing for the first intergovernmental conference to be the real start of negotiations with a candidate for membership.
The EU is expected to discuss negotiating frameworks with Northern Macedonia and Albania next month. The acting Foreign Minister Svetlan Stoev stated that Sofia will not change its position in the dispute, supported by a declaration of the previous parliament.
Meeting of Vucic and Kurti
Meanwhile, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Bernabic explained that Serbia wants EU membership, but in the meantime must explain to European partners important changes in the region – such as the possibility of recently traveling between Serbia and Northern Macedonia, and between Serbia and Albania, only with personal map. According to Bernabic, the meeting was “constructive”.
After the dinner – in which representatives from Belgrade and Pristina did not interact – Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti announcementsthat there will be a meeting with Serbian President Alexander Vucic in June. This is part of the efforts for normalization and dialogue, which must be equal, and the goal of “international recognition”, because at the moment neither Serbia recognizes Kosovo, nor vice versa.
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