There is one thing the states of the Western Balkans cannot complain about at the moment: a lack of German attention. On the contrary. In mid-June, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) made a two-day lightning tour of the region, and at the beginning of November he held a summit meeting in Berlin with the prime ministers of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will also meet two of them when he travels to North Macedonia and Albania.
His objective is identical to that of the chancellor. In the Federal President’s Office one speaks of a visit of “encouragement”. Encouragement to create the conditions for EU membership in the course of the accession negotiations that have just started. And probably also a little encouragement not to lose faith in the EU. Because both states have been waiting for almost two decades to join the exclusive EU club. As early as 2003, the EU promised this to all six Western Balkan countries.
Chancellor Scholz put it this way at the Western Balkans summit in Berlin: “The six states of the Western Balkans belong in the European Union. They are part of Europe and part of the European family.” This year, the Chancellor revived the “Berlin Process” that his predecessor Angela Merkel (CDU) had launched in 2014. The format is intended to promote the EU rapprochement of the Western Balkan countries. But for years, next to nothing happened.
Steinmeier: We haven’t forgotten the Western Balkans
Steinmeier now told Deutsche Welle with regard to his visit to Skopje and Tirana: “I understand some people’s impatience, but like many others I will assure them there that the western Balkans are by no means forgotten.” The trip to the two countries should be understood as a message to the entire region. “If the corresponding progress is achieved domestically, then the path towards membership of the European Union will become more manageable.” It depends “on the domestic willingness to reform and on the willingness to implement the reforms.”
Important keywords here are: rule of law, combating corruption and economic reforms. Steinmeier confirmed that both countries had already “taken decisive steps forward”. The Federal President will probably also send these messages when he speaks with Head of State Stevo Pendarovski and Prime Minister Dimitar Kovacevski in Skopje this Tuesday and when he gives a speech in Parliament. The same program will then follow in Tirana on Thursday with President Bajram Begaj and Prime Minister Edi Rama as well as another speech in Parliament.
Screening process in progress
For North Macedonia and Albania, the EU accession negotiations started on July 19 with intergovernmental conferences in Brussels. They started the “screening” process, during which EU officials examine whether candidate countries’ national laws need to be aligned with EU legislation.
North Macedonia, which was a Yugoslav republic under the name of Macedonia until 1991, is in a better position than Albania in terms of administration, the judiciary and the economy. In the last country report from October, the European Commission determined that Albania had a “medium level” of preparation in important areas such as the judiciary, public administration and the competitiveness of the economy.
However, North Macedonia suffers from the nationalistic ambitions of its neighbors, who, like Bulgaria, blocked the EU process until recently. Among other things, it was about the interpretation of the partly shared history and the rights of the – few – ethnic Bulgarians in North Macedonia. The country must now change its constitution. This requires a two-thirds majority in Parliament. However, this is more than questionable because the nationalist opposition required for it does not want to give its consent.
