• SHQIPËRI
  • KOSOVË
  • MAQEDONIA E VERIUT
  • MALI I ZI
  • Revista në PDF
15 July, 2025
Edicion Special
  • Home
  • OP/ED

    Azerbaijan dismisses claims of involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

    Elite Purges: Internal Conflict or External Design?

    Trump’s Threat of U.S. Intervention in Iran Exposes Roots of Critics’ Fears

    Crisis-Born, Purpose-Seeking: Can the EPC Define Europe’s Strategic Future?

    Serbia’s Request to the ICJ Turned Resolution 1244 into a Closed Chapter and Kosovo’s Independence into an Internationally Recognized Reality

    Unpredictable world

    Promoting Arab Culture and Language in the Framework of Cultural Diversity and Dialogue.

    ‘A Tragic Circus’: Albanian PD Figures Lash Out After LaCivita-Backed Campaign Collapses

    Erosion of Liberal Democracy in Europe Complicates Canada’s Search for Like-Minded Allies

  • Interview

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    The Conclusion of the Diplomatic Mission / Ambassador Dancho Markovski: Strengthening Albania-North Macedonia Relations for a Shared European Future

    A Century of Diplomatic Relations Between Albania and Russia: Exclusive Interview with the Russian Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Alexey Zaytsev

    Exclusive/ The chairman of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta: “The will of the citizens will triumph in Albania, as it did in North Macedonia”

    Exclusive/ The Russian Ambassador to Albania Mr. Mikhail Afanasiev: Russia only aims to end that war started by the West in Ukraine

    Exclusive/ Skopje’s top diplomat to Tirana, Dancho Markovski: OSCE Chairmanship a Project of National Importance for North Macedonia

    Exclusive interview of Croatian Ambassador Zlatko Kramaric: ‘There is progress in Croatian-Albanian relations, but it is still not enough’  

    The first anniversary of the appointment as Archbishop at the head of the Catholic Church/ Mons. Arjan Dodaj: Only God can be the author of our walk!

  • Realpolitik

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    Chancellor Merz passed “the exam”! Political stupidity! 5 per cent or study Russian! The Firing East!      

    A top phone call as disappointment! Exit from Brexit! Germany at the helm! End this political shame up!

    That’s it! The quartet of hope! Shame on Kosovo! The Summit of a Community without Identity!

    Only praises and prolises for Meloni! Facts versus untruths! Immediate ceasefire and genuine peace, no deal for new occupation! Back after 60 years !

    US nuclear tariff bomb!! Europa fires back! NATO ok, but with or without Article 5? Kallas urges reforms!

    Europe riarmed! Germany’s epochal shift! Spoiled soup! EU Commissioner Kos demands reforms!

    Europe tightens the ranks! The Euro-Atlantic Alliance in danger! USA-1945!! A true Peace, not new occupation!

    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    The law of force over the force of law! Multilateral diplomacy is the victim! Euro-Atlantism in danger! Munchen split the West!

  • Current Events

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Forum of Alumni from Saudi Universities in the Balkans

    Why Iran with Nukes is a Danger – Just Look at Cuba in 1962

    When bridges divide more than rivers…

    Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    Geneva meeting begins in bid to halt escalating Israel-Iran conflict

  • Top News

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    NATO allies agree to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035

    Reza Pahlavi: “This Is Our Berlin Wall Moment” — Exiled Prince Calls for Global Support as Iran Nears Regime Collapse

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

    Russia Proposes Second Round of Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul on June 2

    International leaders congratulate Prime Minister Rama after his victory in the parliamentary elections, securing a fourth term.

    Albania’s parliamentary elections competitive and well run but lacked level playing field, international observers say

    Top Ukrainian delegation arrives in Paris for talks with Western officials

    Marta Kos: Albania Making Rapid Progress Toward EU Integration

  • YOUR VOICE
  • Shqip
No Result
View All Result
Argumentum
  • Home
  • OP/ED

    Azerbaijan dismisses claims of involvement in Israel-Iran conflict

    Elite Purges: Internal Conflict or External Design?

    Trump’s Threat of U.S. Intervention in Iran Exposes Roots of Critics’ Fears

    Crisis-Born, Purpose-Seeking: Can the EPC Define Europe’s Strategic Future?

    Serbia’s Request to the ICJ Turned Resolution 1244 into a Closed Chapter and Kosovo’s Independence into an Internationally Recognized Reality

    Unpredictable world

    Promoting Arab Culture and Language in the Framework of Cultural Diversity and Dialogue.

    ‘A Tragic Circus’: Albanian PD Figures Lash Out After LaCivita-Backed Campaign Collapses

    Erosion of Liberal Democracy in Europe Complicates Canada’s Search for Like-Minded Allies

  • Interview

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    The Conclusion of the Diplomatic Mission / Ambassador Dancho Markovski: Strengthening Albania-North Macedonia Relations for a Shared European Future

    A Century of Diplomatic Relations Between Albania and Russia: Exclusive Interview with the Russian Ambassador to Albania, H.E. Alexey Zaytsev

    Exclusive/ The chairman of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta: “The will of the citizens will triumph in Albania, as it did in North Macedonia”

    Exclusive/ The Russian Ambassador to Albania Mr. Mikhail Afanasiev: Russia only aims to end that war started by the West in Ukraine

    Exclusive/ Skopje’s top diplomat to Tirana, Dancho Markovski: OSCE Chairmanship a Project of National Importance for North Macedonia

    Exclusive interview of Croatian Ambassador Zlatko Kramaric: ‘There is progress in Croatian-Albanian relations, but it is still not enough’  

    The first anniversary of the appointment as Archbishop at the head of the Catholic Church/ Mons. Arjan Dodaj: Only God can be the author of our walk!

  • Realpolitik

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    Chancellor Merz passed “the exam”! Political stupidity! 5 per cent or study Russian! The Firing East!      

    A top phone call as disappointment! Exit from Brexit! Germany at the helm! End this political shame up!

    That’s it! The quartet of hope! Shame on Kosovo! The Summit of a Community without Identity!

    Only praises and prolises for Meloni! Facts versus untruths! Immediate ceasefire and genuine peace, no deal for new occupation! Back after 60 years !

    US nuclear tariff bomb!! Europa fires back! NATO ok, but with or without Article 5? Kallas urges reforms!

    Europe riarmed! Germany’s epochal shift! Spoiled soup! EU Commissioner Kos demands reforms!

    Europe tightens the ranks! The Euro-Atlantic Alliance in danger! USA-1945!! A true Peace, not new occupation!

    WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC.  Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

    The law of force over the force of law! Multilateral diplomacy is the victim! Euro-Atlantism in danger! Munchen split the West!

  • Current Events

    “Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

    Forum of Alumni from Saudi Universities in the Balkans

    Why Iran with Nukes is a Danger – Just Look at Cuba in 1962

    When bridges divide more than rivers…

    Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

    Summit G 6+1! The historic Summit and Trump show! Zelensky loses 0:2! Winners and losers of the 12 day war!

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    Exclusive: “Even After Tito – Tito”/ Ambassador Zlatko Kramarić on Authoritarian Legacies and Democracy’s Future in the Balkans

    Geneva meeting begins in bid to halt escalating Israel-Iran conflict

  • Top News

    The NATO Summit in 2027 will be held in Tirana.

    NATO allies agree to allocate 5% of GDP to defense by 2035

    Reza Pahlavi: “This Is Our Berlin Wall Moment” — Exiled Prince Calls for Global Support as Iran Nears Regime Collapse

    Where does Donald Trump stand on the Israel-Iran conflict?

    Russia Proposes Second Round of Ukraine Peace Talks in Istanbul on June 2

    International leaders congratulate Prime Minister Rama after his victory in the parliamentary elections, securing a fourth term.

    Albania’s parliamentary elections competitive and well run but lacked level playing field, international observers say

    Top Ukrainian delegation arrives in Paris for talks with Western officials

    Marta Kos: Albania Making Rapid Progress Toward EU Integration

  • YOUR VOICE
  • Shqip
No Result
View All Result
Argumentum
No Result
View All Result
Home ENGLISH

The unfinished EU: integrating the Western Balkans as a geostrategic imperative

2 October, 2023
in ENGLISH, English OP/ED, English Top News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

by
Tanja Fajon, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Slovenia,
Alexander Schallenberg, Minister of European and International Affairs of Austria,
Gordan Radman Grlić, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of Croatia

The 20 years of an EU promise

In her 2023 State of the Union Address President of the European Commission von der Leyen affirmed that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the EU. In doing so, she was reiterating an EU promise made at the historic Thessaloniki Summit twenty years ago. At that time, the devastating Yugoslav Wars had just ended. International borders had changed with the independence of Montenegro and later Kosovo. And a wave of EU enlargement was about to take place, with ten Central and Eastern European countries joining in 2004, Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and Croatia in 2013. The driving force behind this process was a powerful vision to reunite the European continent. But also a strong political will in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern European countries to become members of the European family. For similar reasons, the Western Balkans countries were just as motivated to join the EU.

However, twenty years on, the Western Balkans have still not joined the European Union. Sometimes it even seems that EU membership has become less attractive for the region than it was two decades ago. With the world and the EU facing a number of crises in the past two decades, the Union’s appetite for enlargement has diminished. At the same time, some Western Balkan countries showed limited political will to implement much needed EU reforms, giving the enlargement sceptics in the Union arguments against their integration. Overall, the enlargement process has proceeded at a slower pace and with less visible and tangible results than expected, leading to disappointment and alienation from the EU. The Union and the Western Balkans – intentionally or unintentionally – found an unsatisfactory modus vivendi.

The window of opportunity for a geostrategic enlargement

Since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, EU membership has become an even more attractive goal for the Eastern partnership countries – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. At the same time, countries of the Western Balkans are facing unprecedented challenges to their stability as well as amplified foreign policy dilemmas. Yet there is also increased awareness of a new window of opportunity for enlargement, raising expectations vis-à-vis the EU.

We welcome that the EU is now approaching enlargement from a more geostrategic and less bureaucratic perspective than before. Last year’s decision to grant Bosnia and Herzegovina candidate status was grounded in strategic considerations. There is an increasing recognition that enlargement policy is the EU’s most powerful stabilization instrument. That said, a new, strategic EU approach will not lower enlargement standards. Full reform implementation remains essential.

The current situation is an opportunity for both the European Union and the Western Balkans to show more strategic foresight, to fully regain their enlargement credibility and to reinforce mutual trust, some of which had been lost over the years.

In fact, a few concrete steps should be taken without any further delay.

First, the European Union must open the EU accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina by the end of this year. Second, Montenegro must continue on its EU reform path, which depends on the formation of a new government in the country. Third, the negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia should advance. In North Macedonia, next steps depend on the country’s ability to pass the required constitutional changes. The latter case is a reminder that EU member states and Western Balkan countries need to play a responsible role and refrain from inserting bilateral problems and disputes, which are unrelated with the accession process.

For a gradual, accelerated EU integration of the Western Balkans

On the EU side, the discussion on required institutional and financial preparations to integrate new members is gaining momentum. This, however, should not become a pretext to delay the enlargement process for our Western Balkans partners. We need to start implementing existing proposals to accelerate the enlargement process now.

EU institutions should be more imaginative in adapting the enlargement process to today’s needs. The process should be less complex and more results-oriented. We must make it more tangible for citizens and tie reform progress to concrete benefits. We also need to engage more dynamically with the Western Balkans countries so that they can really feel the heartbeat of Brussels. Since June 2022, there is a clear tasking by the European Council to advance gradual integration already during the enlargement process. In June 2023, as the “Friends of the Western Balkans” together with our colleagues from Czechia, Greece, Italy and Slovakia, we called on the EU institutions to present a clear agenda for gradual and accelerated integration with concrete implementation steps until 2024 and beyond.

This should be based on fair and rigorous conditionality and the principle of own merits. We see many possibilities, from inviting our Western Balkans colleagues more often to the Foreign Affairs Council to opening up additional policy areas such as education, science, transport or trade for their gradual involvement.

The true value of EU enlargement lies in its transformative ability: helping countries to raise living standards for their citizens and creating prosperous environments where young people may fulfil their dreams. Our Western Balkans and Eastern partners deserve this opportunity, and EU citizens will benefit from more stability and prosperity beyond the current EU borders. EU enlargement is not one among many political options; it is the geostrategic imperative of the day.

Argumentum.al 

Related Posts

Current Events

“Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

11 July, 2025
Current Events

Forum of Alumni from Saudi Universities in the Balkans

6 July, 2025
Current Events

Why Iran with Nukes is a Danger – Just Look at Cuba in 1962

5 July, 2025

Follow US

Subscribe

Receive Argumentum Magazine by Email

Last Posts

“Diplomacy, Not War”: Palestinian Ambassador to Albania Calls for Justice, Peace, and Global Action for Gaza

11 July, 2025

Forum of Alumni from Saudi Universities in the Balkans

6 July, 2025

Why Iran with Nukes is a Danger – Just Look at Cuba in 1962

5 July, 2025

When bridges divide more than rivers…

3 July, 2025

Skopje Growth Plan Summit: Western Balkans Six Urged to Accelerate Reforms

1 July, 2025
Argumentum

“Argumentum”, një proces intelektual …

Contact Us

[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Follow Us

Media Partner

Register

Receive Argumentum Magazine by Email
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact

© 2022 Argumentum. All Rights Reserved. | NUIS: L91415033Q

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • OP/ED
  • Interview
  • Realpolitik
  • Current Events
  • Top News
  • YOUR VOICE
  • Shqip

© 2022 Argumentum. All Rights Reserved. | NUIS: L91415033Q

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.