Mogherini's dire warning: What is the EU afraid of in the Balkans?

Mogherini told the annual conference of EU ambassadors held in Brussels that the Western Balkans joining the EU was a matter of reunification of the European continent, which is needed by both the Balkans and the EU

EU diplomacy chief Federica Mogherini has called on the EU to maintain a strong presence in the Western Balkans in order to achieve a clear interest, namely to take the entire Balkans into the EU. At the same time, one of the main topics at the opening of the Bled Strategic Forum was the enlargement of the European Union to the Western Balkans. Slovenian Prime Minister Marjan Sarec and Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar highlighted this as one of EU's priorities.

Mogherini told the annual conference of EU ambassadors held in Brussels that the Western Balkans joining the EU was a matter of reunification of the European continent, which is needed by both the Balkans and the EU.

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"I am convinced that, if we don't do it, we'll regret it in a few years," Mogherini said.

"I expect the new Commission to bring a new strategy aimed at the future," Sarec said in Bled, pointing out that Slovenia is committed to EU's enlargement to the Western Balkans because the region belongs in Europe.

What message, and to whom, did Mogherini actually send with this warning?

Federica Mogherini's position has been the position of the European Union for a long time, since 2000, and she did not say anything that other commissioners, and even the president of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, didn't also say in his address last year when he stressed that he would like to see Serbia and Montenegro in the EU by 2025 - Director of the Institute for European Affairs Naim Leo Besiri has told Telegraf.rs.

He also explained that EU's position has been clear for 19 years, which is that the EU wants to see Serbia and the countries of the region as members of the European Union. However, the unwillingness of countries, difficult reforms, and also conditions within the Union itself that have deteriorated have slowed down the whole accession process.

"The countries in the region are being reformed with great difficulty, burdened with a lot of corruption, unresolved relations within their states, but also in the region. But conditions in the European Union, Brexit, several referendums in the EU, have slowed down the process, however, the fact is that reforms in Serbia and the region are not nearly enough to become EU member states," Besiri told our portal.

Mogherini also emphasized a clear interest to bring the entire Balkans into the EU.

"We all know it's a long, complicated, always interesting and lively process that will require a lot of time, problem solving and a lot of political commitment on all sides, and determination," she said.

Our interlocutor sees her statement as a dual message, one addressed to EU member-states, which is that more funds should be set aside for the countries in the region in order to improve reforms.

"All the countries in the region are very poor compared to the EU average and in order to be at the level of the poorest EU member states, for example Bulgaria, they would have to invest significantly more resources, above all in infrastructure," said Besiri.

Slovenian Foreign Minister Miro Cerar warned that the Balkans could become a region where another power will prevail unless it's integrated into the EU. Whereas Mogherini put the emphasis on the issue of economic development, trade, social development and security.

The EU, Besiri says, is concerned about the growing involvement of Russia but also of China, through various economic projects, which increases their presence in the region.

"The message is twofold: one is that they want Serbia and the countries of the region to be EU members, and allocate a little more resources, and on the other hand we have the message of the security aspect. The EU won't allow international powers such as the US, Russia or China to have primacy in the region," says the director of the Institute for European Affairs.

He also says that the biggest objection to the EU is that it has been said for a while that it's "an economic giant and a political dwarf."

"The EU doesn't have that strong voice on the international scene, which is why the US, Russia and China, as well as other international powers, are taking primacy in different parts of the world. The second part of Mogherini's message would be that if the EU wants to keep its influence in the international arena, it must have influence in the region and in other parts of the world," concluded Besiri.

(A. Tomovic/Telegraf.rs)