Brussels to extend EU single market benefits to western Balkans

Brussels has pledged to extend some of the benefits of the EU’s single market to the western Balkans and boost funding as the region faces a new bout of instability.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said countries in the western Balkans that are still waiting to join the EU could be integrated into the bloc’s digital single market in areas such as e-commerce or cyber security and benefit from the facilitation of trade in goods and payments. Pre-access funding should also be promoted to help meet the “dire need” of investment, he said without giving figures.

“Our common goal is to speed up their journey towards the European Union,” von der Leyen told a conference in Bratislava on Wednesday. “It is not enough to say that the door is open. We must also take the responsibility of bringing aspiring members of our union closer to us.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has focused attention on the risks of the EU ignoring countries that could fall under Moscow’s influence, with some capitals renewing the push towards accession in the Balkans Is.

However, growth has stalled since Croatia was admitted to the union a decade earlier. Kosovo, whose independence has not yet been recognized by Serbia and a handful of EU states, is the furthest away as it still awaits candidate status; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and North Macedonia have not yet started membership talks; And Serbia and Montenegro have started talks but are far from joining the bloc.

The United States on Tuesday outlined punitive actions against Kosovo for stoking ethnic tensions that have left NATO peacekeepers and Serb protesters wounded in the Balkan country’s worst conflict this year.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti struck a fiery tone on Wednesday, saying the US measures were misguided and that his government was stood down by ethnic Albanian mayors recently elected in the northern part of his country. Have flared up. with a majority Serb population in the region.

“Those who are talking of sanctions should probably think wider or deeper,” Kurti said in an interview with the Financial Times. “Serbia is not imposing sanctions on the Russian Federation and is funding this fascist militia in the northern part of my country, so maybe they should (get) sanctions.”

He described the US as Kosovo’s “key friend, ally and partner” and said he was in daily contact with the US ambassador in Pristina. “I acknowledge and accept that we had a slight difference in terms of the approaches taken but honestly I do not think that any kind of sanctions on Kosovo . . . is the right measure,” he said.

Kurti said he would be open to meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic if a mediation by Brussels is offered. He welcomed the deployment of more NATO troops to quell the violence, saying: “I have been asking for more NATO troops since last year.”

EU Special Representative for the Belgrade–Pristina Dialogue Miroslav Lajčak said he understood Kurti’s argument for making sure that elected officials were able to take office, “but at the same time I think there is a need for more empathy and understanding.” Needed”.

Lajcak “urged both sides to step back”, adding that Kosovo police should be withdrawn from municipal buildings – a measure that has led to violent clashes in recent days, resulting in 30 NATO peacekeepers and more than 50 casualties. More Serb demonstrators were injured.

Brussels’ offer of funding to its Western Balkan partners was immediately welcomed by the region’s leaders.

“The EU should open a new way of cooperation in terms of money because otherwise there is no future for the Balkans in terms of security and stability and if the Balkans cough, it is pneumonia for the EU,” Albanian Prime Minister Ed. Ram told the GlobeSec conference in Bratislava.

He stressed that receiving more EU money does not mean the six countries in the western Balkans will join the EU faster. Rama said, “We are not running to become a member of the European Union, I am part of the ideology that thinks if it doesn’t work with 27, how will it work with 33.” “But we have to enter into a new relationship, so let’s do it.”

North Macedonia’s Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski described von der Leyen as “a great friend of our countries”, but insisted that Brussels should have contributed first to narrowing the funding gap between his region and the EU. communist states in 2004, especially after seeing the benefits of involving former

“Why have countries in South-Eastern Europe and Eastern Europe improved economically? For one reason only, because they became members of the European Union,” he said.

Kosovo’s Kurti said more EU funding was “certainly good news”, while insisting that renewed violence in his country should not stand in the way of EU membership. “In my belief, the European Union is our destiny which we must embrace,” he said.