Thaci reacts to Brussels after warnings of Serbia, Montenegro's EU membership

Thaci writes that the European Commission's relationship with the Western Balkans and enlargement policy has been complicated. According to him, afraid of xenophobic feelings mixed with enlargement fatigue in the country, the administration was quick to promise that no further enlargement of the EU would occur during the 2014-2019 mandate.

While all familiar with politics knew that an expansion by 2019 was hard to realise, the EU's clear policy had devastating effects in the region in terms of miniming reform efforts. The fact that Chancellor Merkel saw the need to launch the Berlin Process for the Western Balkans 6“trying to keep the EU perspective alive despite the Commission's statements is very significant”, Thaci wrote.

He has written that last month, the Western Balkans were again hit by the current Commission.

Thaci further writes that in the letter issued after the annual speech before the congress, the president promised a strategy for the accession of Montenegro and Serbia until 2025.

He has written that the problem is certainly that the other four Western Balkan countries are left out of this renewed and reinforced perspective.

Must I mention that three out of four are predominantly Muslim countries, and three of the four have considerable Albanian populations? This raised speculation about whether this was an attempt to take care of forces that lean more from the right that are emerging across the EU”, he writes, adding that in any case, the threat of increased Russian influence in Montenegro and Serbia should not be rewarded by the EU, as should not be seen the lack of similar threats or other alternatives from Kosovo as a disadvantage.

And for Kosovo, according to him, complications do not end there, unfortunately, adding that Kosovo remains unknown to five EU member states.

According to him, there is no illusion that Kosovo will be ready to join the EU next year, well knowing how long this process takes.

However, according to him, Kosovo is equally conscious and concerned by the fact that the process is everything but right.

“Visa liberalisation is a clear example here. Besides being the last in line, Kosovo has been given 95 criteria when its neighbours have accepted about 50. Furthermore, Kosovo has fully fulfilled the 95th if they are interpreted in the pre-priced manner according to formal guides, and its citizens still remain isolated. Both remaining “criteria have been and continue to be re-interpreted by the EU for political reasons as an excuse to prevent Kosovars from travelling freely”, he wrote.

According to the president, the Kosovo government has been trying to complete demarcation of the border with Montenegro, even though the Parliament has not ratified it yet.

However, the more Kosovo according to him approached the final phase, the tougher the demand was made, not to mention the asymmetry of that demand at all, since Montenegro has not been asked to do the same in its visa guide.

Furthermore, Kosovo has addressed the criteria dealing with fighting organised crime and corruption in a much larger measure than any of the countries have had to do in the visa process. We are constantly being asked to work on “more” in the fight against corruption and organised crime, without any clarity as to what would constitute the fulfillment of this remaining” criteria, he writes.

The president has written that the reasoning often made by many on the part of the EU why Kosovo is being highly assessed is that the EU learns from its past experience.

According to him, however, this only exposes the fact that we have to do with the change of pillars and that this system is something but right. “in our case, in our case, is discrimination”, he added.

In this editorial, President Thaci has created from the European Union that forms the prospect of accession for all 6 Western Balkan countries.

Any accession strategy must include all countries enjoying such a prospect. By isolating some and showing date for few, it automatically reduces credibility for the rest. This, in turn, is demoralising and would put the process at lower speed and risks stopping the reform process”, he wrote.

The president further wrote that the priorities of equal treatment are even more evident in the case of Kosovo and Serbia. In the context of the dialogue for normalising relations between our two countries, whose main guiding force is the EU integration process, asymmetric stimulus is devastating.

“The EU often reminds us that we should show leadership and make decisions that are neither light nor popular, but are in the interest of our country. Well, here you have a perfect opportunity to show us an example. Despite enlargement fatigue and increased populist law, will he do the right thing? Enlargement is certainly good for each of the countries in the region individually and as a group and would be good for the EU itself, as it would create stability and economic opportunities in a war-torn region less than 20 years ago, he wrote.

In the end, President Thaci writes that he still believes in the core values of the EU, and that people's will for a united and integrated continent will prevail.

Kosovars, according to him, are overwhelming in favour of EU membership and are fully and fully devoted to European values.

If we were given a fair opportunity and a clear perspective, we as a people would do everything in our power to reform, improve and meet all the Copenhagen criteria. But for that to happen, the EU must end the isolation of Kosovars and tear down the mental walls built on false and dangerous prejudice”, it has completed the editorial, which is written exclusively for EurActiv.