In its report for the Western Balkans the EC recommends the starting of negotiations for the accession of Macedonia and Albania. The final decision is expected later through the year, but the recommendation itself is a major step to the EU entry of the Western Balkans. The Union has already been into membership negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro. When such talks start with Macedonia and Albania only two of the six states in the region won’t be in a process of accession – Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The EC proclaimed its recommendation one month before May 17^th, when the EU – Western Balkans Summit was due to take place in Sofia. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has insisted on the importance of the overall participation of all the 28 member-states in the summit and also of all the 6 countries from the Western Balkans. Thus she hinted that all the challenges in the dialogue between both parties at the highest level should be overcome by the time of the meeting. At the same time, being the rotational President of the Council of the EU, Sofia had shown initiative for the overcoming of some of these challenges even before the tour of Mrs. Mogherini.

Around ten days ago PM Borissov discussed the recently rising tension between Belgrade and Pristina in Mostar first with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and then in Pristina with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. Just the other day, during his working visit to Pristina Borissov recommended the start of negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, because an agreement was necessary for their EU entry. Borissov warned that after the May summit in Sofia Belgrade and Pristina would have to declare to the EU member-states that they would solve their problems. Mr. Thaci promised that Kosovo would continue to seek a solution of its problems with Serbia and Mr. Vucic said that many things could happen till the summit, adding that anything possible would be done for keeping the peace and stability in the Balkans. We can expect that those statements will become more concrete during the two leaders’ talks with Mrs. Mogherini over the next days.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and the recent political tension with the new election code’s adoption are yet another challenge for the country’s European integration. During his Mostar visit and later on, during the visit to Sofia of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Denis Zvizdic, PM Borissov was ascertained that the country had no other alternative, but its Euro-Atlantic perspective. We will also see over the next 30 days if Spain will change its refusal to take part into the summit in case Kosovo is treated as a state with the same EU perspective as the others from the Western Balkans. Romania and Cyprus take the same stance, but some compromise might be expected. Perhaps that was exactly why President of the EC Jean-Claude Juncker has stated for the EP that “unless we give to the Western Balkans new hope for EU membership, we risk the renewal of the 1990s local wars.”

One month prior to May 17^th the representation of the sides and not the holding of the Western Balkans – EU Summit itself is under question. Actually the appeal of EU Commissioner Mogherini for full participation of all the countries from the EU and the Western Balkans actually called on for full consensus, which is sometimes a challenge even within the EU itself.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev