TIRANA, Jan. 9 – The EU Commission is looking to set the deadline for the next wave of EU enlargement in 2025, but Serbia and Montenegro are the only Western Balkan countries it predicts will achieve membership status by then, according to documents revealed this week.
The strategy paper to be adopted by mid-February says that “The Western Balkans partners now have a historic window of opportunity. For the first time, their accession perspective has a best-case timeframe.”
The paper has not yet been made public, but a copy was leaked to the EUobserver news site.
The draft says that through delivering concrete reform results and working to resolve past disputes with neighbors, Serbia and Montenegro are the only countries that could become members by 2025, as these are the only Western European countries to have already opened accession talks.
Concerning Albania, Macedonia, Bosnia and Kosovo, the draft says that by the set timeframe the countries should have further advanced in their European path through opened accession talks.
Tirana hopes to open negotiation talks within the first half of 2018, however an official date has not been announced, while the justice and police vetting are yet to be fully implemented.
It is clear in the draft paper that even when accession talks start, the country has a long way to become a EU member.
Macedonia is also hoping to open talks this year, while Bosnia is siding to gaining EU candidate status and Kosovo is considering asking to become a candidate.
However, unresolved conflicts continue to hamper the region’s progress.
Albania’s justice and police reforms are expected to deliver concrete results in the fields of corruption, marijuana growing and trafficking and the soaring of criminal gangs at home and abroad.
Macedonia can also only take the next step to EU integration once it resolves its name dispute with Greece. Similarly hindering is Serbia’s non-recognition of Kosovo’s statehood, while Kosovo is refusing to honor the agreement made with Montenegro concerning the countries’ shared border.
All these regional and local disputes are the main listed causes that could penalize the Western Balkans from meeting the EU’s timeframe. For this reason, the draft proposes, the countries could seek international assistance in solving their border issues, but should make sure to “fully respect” all rulings as “binding and final” .
“The EU cannot and will not import bilateral disputes. This is why all the Western Balkans partners concerned must resolve such disputes as a matter of urgency,” the draft says.
Despite listing these obstacles, the draft shows a concrete change in tone in regard to the Western Balkans from Jean-Claude Juncker’s statement back in 2014, when he said that there would be no EU enlargement in the foreseeable future.
