Skopje, 12 September 2023 (MIA) – The people of the Western Balkans urgently need tangible benefits that come with EU accession. To achieve that, the accession process needs to be reformed. Candidate countries need to be incorporated step-by-step into EU structures before formally joining the EU, said German Bundestag Foreign Policy Committee chairman and former foreign minister Michael Roth.

Roth said he was satisfied that European Council President Charles Michel recently made a similar proposal to the one he made during last year's visit to the country, and while addressing Tuesday's conference at the Macedonian Parliament, Roth outlined six specific proposals for reforming the accession process. According to him, they will result in a gradually accelerated integration process, which he believes will be more attractive to the Western Balkan countries and bring them closer to the EU without undermining the strict accession criteria.  

One of the six proposals Roth presented on Tuesday before the Macedonian MPs includes qualified majorities in the Council of Ministers for the opening of formal membership negotiations and opening and closing of individual negotiation chapters. 

"Having only one member state or two member states blackmailing all others is impermissible. That was the bitter reality when I was foreign minister," Roth told Tuesday's conference "Enhancing Berlin Process through Parliamentary Diplomacy", organized by the Institute for Democracy Societas Civilis - Skopje. 

The German MP and diplomat also proposed candidate countries that make sufficient progress within the framework of negotiations and within the framework of good governance and the rule of law be part of the European Council and selected formations of the Council of Ministers on a regular basis. 

"Prior to accession, the EU should cooperate even more closely with candidate countries in the key areas of security, energy and infrastructure. Gradual access to the EU's common market will be an attractive incentive to join the Union. Pre-accession financial assistance to support membership efforts, which should be increased significantly to close investment gaps and diminish the attractiveness of Chinese loans," Roth said, presenting the proposals. 

The other two of the six proposals which, according to him, will reform the EU integration process include: strengthening the role of the predominantly pro-European civil society, for example by means of compulsory consultation procedures, and EU member states taking on sponsorships for candidate countries as a means of providing close technical and political support throughout the accession process. 

"Yesterday I spoke with my colleagues from North Macedonia and everyone is getting fed up with the European Union. These are young people who had trust, and it is clear to me why they no longer trust the EU. It's not just that you have to fulfill your obligations, but we also have to fulfill our obligations and fulfill our promises. Without a doubt, North Macedonia can benefit from these reforms and this is exactly what your country needs after so many years of waiting. As the largest EU member state, Germany has a special responsibility for the future of the Western Balkans and I am really proud that this is one of the main topics on the agenda of our Prime Minister," Roth told Tuesday's conference. 

The return of war to Europe, he added, has made clear to the EU that the stabilization and integration of "our neighbors to the East and South-East is first and foremost in our own interest".

"It is not a gift, it is for our own interest. To achieve this, the enlargement process has to be reformed in such a way that the citizens in candidate countries, such as North Macedonia, are able to benefit from the initial advantages of EU membership even before formal accession has taken place. The EU has wasted valuable time and a great deal of trust in the Western Balkans over the last few years. North Macedonia is the best or, unfortunately, the worst example of this. The European integration of North Macedonia will be of symbolic importance for the entire region because it is a multi-ethnic example for the Western Balkans," said Roth. 

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has woken up the European Union from its geopolitical slumber, Roth added, and the Union has rediscovered one of its most successful instruments: enlargement policy "a driving force in past decades for peace, democracy and the rule of law". 

Roth believes that with the granting of candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, concerns have grown in the Western Balkans that the European Union’s focus will shift to Eastern Europe in the near future. And therefore, "it is up to us to ensure that the destabilizing influence of Russia and China will not grow further in the region". 

According to Roth, the EU's renewed political commitment and a reformed accession process will lay the groundwork to enable the next countries from the Western Balkans to join the EU between 2025 and 2030.

"I know that the EU hates to talk about dates and that it is always risky. But we need more ambition. I cannot visit Skopje, Sarajevo or Pristina and say: "Look, it's up to you, the more ambitious you are, the sooner you will be given the opportunity to join the EU." I think we should be more ambitious. I am not sure that people in your country would have the patience to wait another 20 or 25 years. I think we need to establish a roadmap that will be more substantial, more precise than the one we had before," Roth said, adding that "your future is our common future".  

Roth stressed "we can no longer afford lack of determination when the situation is more fragile than it has been in years". 

"Nationalist tensions are on the rise in the region, as seen most recently at the border between Kosovo and Serbia and in the run-up to the elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Meanwhile, in the Western Balkans a clash of systems is raging between the liberal and social democracies and the authoritarian regimes of Russia and China. The EU’s hesitation and dithering has created spaces for other actors that do not only reject our values and interests, but actively fight against them. The EU does not need to shy away from open competition with Russia and China," said Roth. 

To fulfill the commitments to responsibility, the German Bundestag member said he has invited his colleagues from the Western Balkan countries to join an event as part of the Berlin Process in Berlin, adding that parliamentarians have an essential role in enhancing the European perspective of the region. 

Photo: MIA