Enlargement put back on EU's agenda

TIRANA, Albania — The Ukraine crisis has put the European Union's expansion at the top of the agenda as officials from the Western Balkans and EU leaders gathered on Tuesday for a summit intended to reinvigorate the whole enlargement process.

The EU's executive commission has repeatedly promised Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia that they have futures within the bloc. But the progress of the six candidates toward getting there has stalled in recent years.

European Council President Charles Michel, who is jointly chairing the summit, hailed it as a "symbolic meeting" that will cement the futures of the six candidates within Europe.

Michel underscored EU energy support to the region in light of the Russia-Ukraine conflict's impact on supplies and prices, as well as a mobile telephone roaming charges agreement.

As the conflict in nearby Ukraine rages, Albanian Prime Minister and summit host Edi Rama called for the EU to turn its words into action.

"You need the Balkans — Western Balkans — as much as the Western Balkans need the EU," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "We have to face the future more and more together."

The EU last admitted a new member — Croatia, which is also part of the Balkans — in 2013. Before that, Bulgaria and Romania joined in 2007. With the withdrawal of the United Kingdom in 2021, the EU now has 27 member nations.

Although divisions among them on the pace of accession talks and some complicated bilateral issues remain, EU officials think it's more crucial than ever to make clear the six Western Balkans nations belong in the European family so they don't turn in frustration toward Russia instead.

"Enlargement policy is among the top three priorities of EU leaders," EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said during a visit to Belgrade, Serbia's capital, last week. "The only real long-term solution for peace, stability and prosperity is EU membership."

EU leaders agreed in June to make Moldova and Ukraine candidates for membership and said Georgia would be eligible for candidacy once the country met some goals defined by the European Commission.

A month later, the EU started membership negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia following years of delays. Bosnia moved a small step closer on its path to join the powerful economic bloc when the commission advised member countries in October to grant it candidate status despite continuing criticism of the way the nation is run.

Kosovo has only started the first step, with the signing of a Stabilization and Association Agreement. It said it would apply for candidate status this month.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg insisted last week that supporting Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia was crucial in the context of the conflict. Stoltenberg noted that Bosnia, where alleged Russian interference and ethnic tensions long have created political instability, is "important for stability in the whole of the Western Balkans".

But the problem for the countries-in-waiting is that the EU has not deemed their economies and political institutions ready for integration into the bloc's single market of open trade and Western democratic ideals.

"None is close to joining the EU," said Luigi Scazzieri, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform, a think tank in London. "They must all overcome substantial hurdles to meet the Copenhagen criteria, which define the EU's standards on strong democratic institutions, a functioning market economy and the ability to take on the obligations of membership."

Discussions at Tuesday's meeting in Albania's capital, Tirana, are also expected to focus on the negative effects for energy and food security from the Russia-Ukraine crisis. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has already announced financial support to help countries in the Western Balkans cope with shortages and higher prices.

Agencies Via Xinhua