Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU summit unlikely to see progress on Balkans enlargement

  • Macedonia, an EU candidate since 2005 – is ready to start accession negotiations as soon as possible. (Photo: European Commission)

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday (19 June) will spend little time discussing enlargement of the bloc, and are not expected to do more than reaffirm western Balkan countries' "European perspective" – despite greater expectations from some of the EU hopefuls.

One such country – Macedonia, an EU candidate since 2005 – has lately been indicating its readiness to start accession negotiations as soon as possible.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"We feel prepared ... to open accession negotiations over EU membership," the country's foreign minister Antonio Milososki said earlier this month.

Some EU states have adopted a cautious approach to Skopje's push, however.

"The way the elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia [FYROM] were carried have tempered the [enlargement] enthusiasm a little," a French diplomat said on Wednesday (18 June), referring to violent incidents that accompanied parliamentary elections in some parts of the country in early June.

"And the question of the relations between FYROM and Greece remains a serious obstacle," he added.

Athens has been refusing to recognise its neighbour's constitutional name - Republic of Macedonia - since the country declared independence in 1991, saying it implies territorial claims on a northern Greek province also called Macedonia.

As a result of the ongoing stalemate, Greece blocked a NATO invitation to Skopje in April. It has also indicated that it wants the "name issue" to be resolved before Macedonia is allowed any closer to the EU.

No starting of talks in 2008?

Nevertheless, both Macedonia and Slovenia, which currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, had expressed hopes Skopje could start accession talks - or be given a date to do so - in the course of this year.

That goal is also present in the draft conclusions prepared ahead of the summit.

The document - seen by EUobserver - reads: "The European Council is looking forward to the opening of the accession negotiations with FYROM by the end of this year."

Following objections from Athens however, this passage is very likely to be modified to reflect Greece's demands - or scrapped altogether.

"The Greek delegation has been clear: no agreement on the name [of Macedonia], no launching of EU talks," another diplomat said.

Macedonia had had high expectations on starting accession negotiations during Ljubljana's time at the EU helm, as Slovenia – which was part of the former Yugoslavia together with Macedonia – has made the Western Balkans' EU integration a priority of its presidency.

Moreover, not winning the announcement of a date now means that Skopje may not start negotiations this year at all, as the next EU presidency country, France, has explicitly taken Greece's side in the name row, and is not expected to put a particular emphasis on enlargement issues.

'Nothing extraordinary' on enlargement

According to the draft summit conclusions, EU leaders should more generally welcome progress made by the countries of the western Balkan region, encourage them to keep up reforms in key fields such as corruption or organised crime, and reaffirm their European perspective.

But there will be "nothing extraordinary on enlargement," in the final document, the French diplomat said.

EU presidency country Slovenia reportedly wanted the conclusions to be much more far-reaching, but had to lower its ambitions due to opposition from other member states.

Greece flexes muscles in Macedonia name spat

EU leaders on Friday adopted watered down objectives on Macedonia's progress towards the European Union following pressure from Greece over the country's name.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us