“There is a good sign as I can unveil that the next stage of the Berlin Process will go to the region and maybe Bulgaria and North Macedonia will be the hosts next year,” has said Marta Szpala, Senior Research Fellow in the Central European Department at the Warsaw-based Centre of Eastern Studies (OSW)
By Genc Mlloja
Senior Diplomatic Editor
“There is a good sign as I can unveil that the next stage of the Berlin Process will go to the region and maybe Bulgaria and North Macedonia will be the hosts next year,” has said Marta Szpala, Senior Research Fellow in the Central European Department at the Warsaw-based Centre of Eastern Studies (OSW).
Ms. Szpala made that revelation in an exclusive interview with Albanian Daily News at the end of a seminar held in that Center with the participation of a group of journalists from Western Balkans countries, who were on a work visit to Poland from June 9 to 15 this year.
Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov expressed the expectation at the Plovdiv Economic Forum as reported by Macedonian portal nezavisen.mk on June 26, 2019 that the coming meeting of the Berlin Process in Poznan will take a decision that North Macedonia and Bulgaria jointly host the next summit.
In the interview with Albanian Daily News the OSW Polish Senior Research Fellow spoke of the expectations from the Western Balkans Summit to be held in Poznan whose agenda, according to her, consists of Think Tank Forum, Civil Society Forum, Business Forum, Ministerial meetings and Leaders’ Summit.
The Think Tank Forum was held on July 3, and its essential goal was the discussion of the achievements and challenges facing the new European Commission linked to the EU’s enlargement policy and the development of the Berlin Process. Participants of the Forum also discussed the Connectivity Agenda since one of the aims of the Berlin Process is to enhance connectivity and regional cooperation throughout the Western Balkans.
On July 4, the Civil Society Forum will take place and it will have several parallel sessions – Stepping up the regional transformation efforts to advance the EU integration path, Local initiatives solving local problems, Better environment for better living, Disinformation and Hybrid Threats for Democracy, Anti-corruption as the first condition for economic growth and Overcoming the legacy of the past.
The motto of the Business Forum that will be held on the same day is “Growing together” and the main goal of the Forum is to strengthen the relations between participants, especially in a business context. The main topics of the Forum will be renewable energy, development of digital infrastructure, food and agrotech.
Also, on July 4 Ministers of Foreign Affairs will have bilateral and multilateral meetings.
The Summit of the leaders of the Western Balkans and members of the Berlin Process will be held on the final day of the Summit in Poznan, on July 5. The leaders will discuss the most important issues concerning Western Balkans.
“This Summit will help to shape the common stance about the enlargement. We would like to support that perspective on European level and in this spirit we want to use this Summit as an opportunity to show how much important the enlargement policy is, and that is the most effective tool of the EU policy. In a nutshell this Summit aims at giving the message that the Western Balkans is welcomed to the EU,” Ms. Marta Szpala of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) said.
The Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) is an independent public research institution monitoring the events and analysing the socio-political and economic processes taking place in Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, the Visegrad Group states, the Balkan states and Turkey. The Centre also carries out regional research projects focused on security, integration of energy markets, migration and integration processes in Germany, Central Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Nordic-Baltic and the Black Sea regions.
Speaking of the Polish-Albanian relations Ms. Szpala said that Albania had not been so popular among the Polish society, but this situation is changing. “First of all, it is the aspect of the tourists. There is a great number of Polish tourists in Albania and as far as I know they are everywhere in your country. When they come back home they keep sharing their experience and speak of what a beautiful country they visited with so many opportunities. And that is a good sign,” the OSW Senior Research Fellow, Marta Szpala said in the following interview:
– Please can you wrap up which are your expectations from the Poznan Summit seeing things from the Polish prospective?
– First of all, we hope that it will help us to enhance the business connection between the Western Balkans and the Polish business community. I think that there are a lot of possibilities in this field and opportunities are numerous for cooperation between the Polish business and the Western Balkans. We would also like to present the different image of the Balkans, a region that does not only have problems but has also things to offer. In this aspect a large space of various events foreseen in the frame of the Summit is dedicated to the young people because they are eager to work and take development to a higher stage.
In addition this Summit will help us to shape the common stance about the enlargement. We would like to support on European level and in this spirit we want to use this Summit as an opportunity to show how much important is the enlargement policy, and that is the most effective tool of the EU policy. In a nutshell this Summit aims at giving the message that the Western Balkans is welcomed to the EU.
– It was said at this round table that reconciliation in the region will be a topic of the Summit. Can you please say how is this designed?
– At the outset I would recall the Polish experience dealing with the past. And there have been many complicated matters related with the end of the Second World War. So I think that some of that experience can be used in the Western Balkans. I can mention that there are some divided cities in the Polish and German border, and I can say that we have experience which might be shown how we dealt with some problems. I should not say that we have the best solution that can be applied in the Western Balkans but this must be an opportunity to speak out and get from it what might be useful.
There will be a presentation on this matter by a Polish Foundation on how this issue was handled by Poland and Germany. There will be a report on the experience of Visegrad 4 in the spirit of the reconciliation and there will be a presentation by the Western Balkans specialists on the issue.
– From Berlin to Poznan… Do you think that the Berlin Process has delivered. Secondly, what will happen with this Initiative after Poznan?
– The experience of all these stages of the Berlin Process shows strongly that negotiations are the best solution to resolve problems. But I would like to lay the stress on the economic aspect as well as issues related with democracy, rule of law, and good governance. The latter elements are closely connected with the economic cooperation in the region. So what is needed is to give an impulse to the economic development and I repeat that youth has an important role to play in this direction.
And coming to the second question of yours: What will be next, I mean after Poznan? There is a good sign and I can reveal that the next stage of the process is expected to go to the region and maybe Bulgaria and North Macedonia will be the hosts next year. That might be the case to get engaged the neighbors and connectivity can play an important role in this aspect. It might be the best opportunity that the Western Balkans countries can get engaged more vividly.
In the meantime neighboring countries of the region like Bulgaria, Romania and Greece can become more active in the process and concretely they can be part of projects in the field of transport, energy, social links in cooperation with the regional countries.
– Berlin Process is also supposed to promote the enlargement process of the EU towards the Western Balkans. But there are signs that there is a sort of slow down of enlargement and evidence of this is the delay of the opening of the EU accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia. Which is your comment on this?
– Of course, there are challenges in the EU, and the Union should sort out some things before making final decisions which have to do with the change of the architecture of Europe. So I think this is more an administrative and practical problem than a political matter.
– What can you say on the relations between Poland and Albania?
– I think that Albania has not been so popular among the Polish society, but this situation is changing. First of all, it is the aspect of the tourists. There is a great number of Polish tourist in Albania and as far as I know they are everywhere in your country. When they come back home they keep sharing their experience and speak of what a beautiful country they visited with so many opportunities. And that is a good sign.
Even propaganda is more effective. There was a reportage by a Polish who lives in Tirana and it has been really popular in Poland which shows the interest for Albania. And I hope that the Berlin Process has been an opportunity to develop this kind of connection.
To conclude, in my view, people come first and then they are followed by the businesses. So I think that the Business Forum in Poznan will be also helpful to develop and strengthen the economic cooperation between Poland and Albania.
