A panel on Western Balkan countries held as part of the Bled Strategic Forum showed that a divide between politicians and the civil society persists in the perception of the region’s progress on its Euro-Atlantic path.
Several panellists, including Mr Gent Cakaj, Deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Albania, acknowledged that progress could be greater, but also encouraged the EU to do more to help the countries in the region.
The goal – joining the EU – remains achievable, but the EU must deliver and contribute to the momentum, otherwise reform efforts could be hampered and other powers could improve their position in the region, according to him.
H.E. Dr Srđan Darmanović, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Montenegro, moreover said that while pro-EU forces remain a majority in the region, the EU must act to outdo its “strong competitors” in the region.
“I would not describe these years as lost – achievements were probably not as great as ideally, but they are there,” he said in a nod to the panel’s title Western Balkans: Lost Years or New Hope.
The agreement between Skopje and Athens on the name of Macedonia was hailed as such a success by Mr Terens Spenser Nikolaos Quick, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, and Mr Andrej Zhernovski, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Macedonia.
The Greek official noted that it was an example of what can be achieved if two sides were ready to work hard to reach a mutually beneficial goal, while Mr Zhernovski said it took courage to make such decisions because they could “cost you your political career”, but there are more important things to consider, namely the future of the country.
However, far from all bilateral disputes in the region have been resolved, including the Kosovo-Serbia rift.
Dr Enver Hoxhaj, Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, said his country would like to resolve all open issues between the two countries because it would help keep the positive momentum.
However, two days ago, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić abused his visit to Kosovo by delivering a speech in which he glorified Slobodan Milošević, according to Dr Hoxaj.
“What I am trying to say is that we are very much committed to the dialogue, but Vučić is the last man in Serbia whom we trust,” Dr Hoxaj stressed.
Nevertheless, Kosovo will do everything to reach an agreement with Serbia, but the process will be more difficult than now, he said pointing to admission in the UN as the solution for Kosovo.
Regardless of everything, he stressed that his country wanted to see the region move forward, as this will also help Kosovo, a small country.
Meanwhile, Mr Srdjan Majstorović, Chairman of the Governing Board of the European Policy Center – CEP from Serbia, has a much brighter vision for the region.
He believes that the Western Balkans will one day be a borderless region within the bloc despite the fact that enlargement is not the most popular topic within the EU at the moment.
Mr Majstorović also pointed out that blaming inactivity of the EU for a lack of reform efforts was wrong, wondering if the rule of law was not something that countries should want to enforce of their own volition.
Mrs Charlotte Ruhe, Managing Director, Central and South Eastern Europe at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, called on the leaders in the region to “build your countries for yourselves, for your citizens, not because of the EU”.
This was also taken up by Ms Hedvig Morvai, Executive Director of European Fund for the Balkans from Serbia, who believes that the title of the panel should be lost years and false hopes, because “the picture is even gloomier than it was”.
The situation in Brussels is complicated at the moment, while the region also fails to deliver. “We see business as usual,” she stressed.
She sees a solution in a completely new narrative of the EU for the region and a new development narrative in the region which goes beyond the EU accession.
Mr Momčilo Radulović, President of the European Movement in Montenegro, went even further, saying that countries in the region no longer need strategies, narratives or communications, “we need action”.
Criticising the EU that its approach to the Balkans is “don’t do as we do, do as we tell you to”, he said that countries in the region were already better than some countries in the EU in terms of infrastructure, political systems or economy.
“We are losing the hope in the EU, the leverage of the EU is going down, and that worries us,” he added.
As views on Western Balkan future in Europe differ, one thing seems clear to the Young BSF representative who attended the panel as the keynote, Mr Adnan Ćerimagić, Analyst at the European Stability Initiative from Germany: countries in the region must invest in education.