The summit EU-Western Balkans had become a new format for the rapprochement of EU with the countries of the region, however, against the background of coronavirus has become a tool of crisis management. Brussels needed to return the status of the main ally of the Western Balkans to push Russia and China, which managed to strengthen its position in the period of the pandemic. To help in this should have been agreed ahead of the summit, a package of assistance worth €3.3 billion Final Declaration of the summit showed that the European Union won a landslide victory.
The idea of the summit originated from the coronavirus outbreak: its main theme was to be the enlargement of the European Union and the Association of Albania and Northern Macedonia. Make the talks planned Croatia is the last country in the Western Balkans, which joined the ranks of the EU in 2013. She is currently Chairman of the Association. The original plan, however, had to be changed. First, the summit was postponed indefinitely, then the EU returned to the idea of it, but via videoconference, focusing on the joint fight against coronavirus.
I wrote the magazine Newsweek, a decision on the summit, above all, a political one in Brussels would strengthen the EU’s position in the Balkans, challenged in the initial stages of the epidemic. European leaders, faced with internal problems of the Association, was not ready to help their external partners. So, the President of Serbia Alexander Vucic made public the decision of the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to stop the export of medical products in the countries which are traditional partners of the Association. He not only publicly criticized the EU’s actions, questioning his solidarity, but also reported that he requested assistance from China. As a result, China first sent to the country party masks, and then Russia sent to Serbia 11 planes with humanitarian aid and military medics on Board. Similar assistance Beijing and Moscow have offered to other countries in the region, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, backed by their actions a strong public relations campaign.
As a result, the Brussels summit approved the allocation of €3.3 billion to support the Balkans in the fight against the epidemic. According to European diplomats, this amount is greatly in excess of Moscow and Beijing on a humanitarian aid Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, however, the Western Balkan countries don’t appreciate her properly. This position, according to Reuters, the EU leaders were going to speak at the summit.
the Summit is a signal: we want you (to us) joined. But we also want to say that you can’t pander to the Chinese and Russians when it suits you, the Agency quoted a senior EU diplomat.
The high-level talks started in the afternoon of may 6 and lasted until late in the evening, after which the parties released a final Declaration. A four-page document consisted of 20 points and have secured for the European Union as the partner of the Western Balkans. China and Russia were not mentioned, however, the text was underlined that the EU support “goes far beyond that granted to any other region of his partner,” and the Western Balkan countries “reaffirmed their commitment to the European course as a firm strategic choice”. Reference was made to attempts by other countries to undermine the European position in the region through misinformation and using hybrid methods. Special attention was paid to reforms in the Western Balkan countries in accordance with the policies and values of the European Union, however, the question of accession to the EU the Declaration is not mentioned.
In fact, the document was a deal — billions of dollars in aid from the European Union in exchange for the loyalty of the Western Balkans. Specific requirements of leaders of the countries, in particular, the head of the unrecognized Kosovo Hashim Thaci to grant the country candidate status in EU member States and the simplification of the visa regime, were not taken into account. Final Declaration of the consolidated the political success of the European Union in the region and demanded that the concessions in favor of the Western Balkans.
