Alexandra Tomanic wrote that with regard to the enlargement of the EU, citizens of the Western Balkans and many EU citizens hope that EU institutions and member states will abandon hypocrisy.
Aleksandra Tomanić is the executive director of the European Balkan Fund
In 2018, the European Commission stated that in the Western Balkans, “these countries show obvious elements of national capture”. An important assessment is long overdue. However, nothing happened afterwards.
The European Commission did not provide accurate information on the roots and consequences of individual countries’ “state capture”, nor did it provide a road map on how to reduce state capture and how to regain democracy, nor did it cause any consequences for the rulers. The state of the capture. on the contrary. Strongmen throughout the region continue to receive praise, support, and visits; they operate as usual.
Just recently, Politico published his insights on the European Commission’s investment portfolio expansion. The point is that the current commissioner responsible for the enlargement of the European Union in the Western Balkans is clearly more willing to avoid criticizing the autocratic rulers in the region. Since deciding to hand over such a sensitive investment portfolio to anyone else, just to manage a party affiliate of a country with its own rule of law issues, anyone who has followed developments will not be surprised.
For a long time, the expansion policy has been regarded as the EU’s soft power and its strongest transformation tool. This is a success story in Eastern Europe, albeit short-term in some cases, because it is becoming more and more obvious now.
Then the portfolio enters the rule of law troublemaker. Quite fair, at the time, it was still part of the EPP family. Their agenda is still unclear.
Therefore, one might argue that the development of sugar coatings in certain countries is predictable. However, when committee chairman von der Lein recently visited the Western Balkans, the impressions that appeared were much more problematic.
Shockingly, she praised a particularly strong man whose country is declining in all international rankings for democracy, human rights, and media freedom. This country needs an EP task to negotiate a fair election framework. Von der Lein praised the strong man for making “amazing progress” in fundamental reforms under his leadership.
For many years, the EU’s eastward expansion policy has been in deep crisis. The expansion process has no technological reforms, no new methods, and no stages, all of which can help break the deadlock. Obviously, most EU member states have lost their political appetite and willingness to honor their promises. No matter what you say, the hardship of expansion is essentially a political process. It has never been and will never be just a series of technical steps. Decorating the facade with “new methodology” will not allow us to make any progress.
We caught the countries aiming to join the EU, we caught the EU institutions pretending to run fair procedures. Basically, the result is to run the captured process. The prospect of the rule of law and a true democratic system are the initial motivations for joining the European Union. Becoming “Europeanized”, as it has been wrong for many years.
If we really want to solve this dead end, we must start paying attention to the elephant in the room. Otherwise, the poorest and most politically vulnerable countries in the European Union’s inner court, the Western Balkan countries, will pay the price of different interests, political parties, and internal defects in the EU.
Let us stop spreading the fear of further “expansion”. What we are talking about is accomplishing and ensuring peace. The promise of peace. Looking at the current state of the EU, this reminder from the Western Balkans may be helpful. Citizens of the Western Balkans, as well as many EU citizens, hope that EU institutions and member states will abandon hypocrisy and act in accordance with their declared values and geopolitical goals.
Achieving democratic settings and the rule of law in the Western Balkans should be a priority.
[Edited by Alice Taylor]
