Romanian presidency removes Balkans from European Union agenda

A Balkan country that heads the EU presidency has no priority for EU integration. This is the Romanian paradox, also criticised by the Eurodeputs in the European Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee.

Eurodeputs hosted Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Melescanu at a meeting yesterday. He was invited to speak on the priorities of the Romanian Presidency of the European Union. For a six-month period, Romania will be the chairman of the European Union Council Presidency. Melescanu talking about priorities was not taken with the expansion of the European Union, which appears to have a peripheral role. What worries Romania most is the economy, Brex, relations with the periphery and Southeast countries, as well as Turkey's problem. The latter has been highly criticised for violations of human rights and the imprisonment of journalists.

Romanian presidency and its challenges

During his speech, the Romanian Foreign Minister said: It's a pleasure to be here. I represent the majority of the Romanian Parliament for the liberal-democratic coalition. I will give you a vision of Romania's presidency. It's a privilege for me to be here, I'm very impressed by the Commission and the European Parliament. That's the difference. The EU has a promise of security and the economy. We've chosen to be united. Romania has placed its responsibilities at the top of the agenda. The European Union is in a cruise phase. Brexit, strategic movements, free trade and international development, all challenges show how things will evolve. The presidency reflects not only ambitions but also the continued vision of internal challenges. We consider cohesion to be high among EU countries and regions. That's why the slogan is unity. The challenge for us remains convergence, security, more common values and greater incomes, important is also co-ordination of institutions. Our citizens must be the first, implementing all things and the proximity to move forward. We are at an electoral moment, demanding challenges and information for citizens. Our priorities are: Politics, economy and strategy with neighbouring countries, strengthening the rule of law, regional co-operation and proximity to security and defence. Stocks and external services must be empowered. Implementation of the global strategy requires great achievement. As part of a European identity, there must be the issue of mutual protection. Romania will support development and research policies. This time progress should not be in the civil field, but also greater emergency co-operation. Strong transatlantic relations must be solid. Strengthening civil society is an essential element for democracy. This will also be a test for the European Union. Our priority also consists of the matter of external action. In this spirit, we must implement a new strategy in June of this year. To achieve concrete results, which are also tangible. The Western Balkans should benefit from the European Union's attention. The regional reality is fragile. This also reflects priorities for Southeast Europe”.

Euro-deput reactions

Crisitan Preda, Romanian Euro-Deputate: 1. I want to point out: The priorities for Romania must also be China, the recent statements by the Chinese president for the unification of China and Taiwan, even through force. What's your position for him?

2. The government has reiterated the position for Romania's embassy in Jerusalem. So you will change Romania's position in relation to the European Union.

3. Romania has a opposite position for Moldova. Your position on this matter? In my opinion these are problems Romania's presidency must be prepared.

Charles Tonnik (reporter for Montenegro to the European Parliament): Enlarging the Balkans is a highly cruise issue. I have been dealing with the enlargement issue for years and I think a priority of the Romanian Presidency should be the issue of enlargement. I welcome multilatheralism. What do you think of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Ukraine, the Minsk agreement. Like Brex. How is the role of the Western Balkans in this regard? I think these must be problems that the Romanian presidency must face sooner or later.

Rebecca Hamas, the PEP grouping eurodeputs: Corruption in EU member candidate countries is too big. We must think long before considering the issue of enlargement. But not only the countries of the Western Balkans. Ukraine, for example. Corruption is also high in Romania. Not to talk about Turkey afterwards.

Edward Kukan, Eurodeput, grouping P EP: I want to stop on the issue of expansion of the Western Balkans. We're talking and they're not your priority. The Bulgarian presidency was too ambitious for the region, and Austria also made expertise for the region. But you must find something good. I'm sorry to say, because there's a golden opportunity for this region. But there are countries that are sceptical about the Balkans. You've set conditions for these places and you're talking in a scary way because you're losing faith in them. You tell him to fulfill the terms, but they have. We're watching the situation as to what they should do, so please surprise us with your policy.

Melescanu: For the Balkans we can only make one ministerial

In the second part of the debate, Romania's foreign minister answered Eurodeput questions, focusing on the challenges he considered most important. During his speech he said: “I will answer within 15 minutes. I mean, our position for Moldova is its support in the European Union. We have no relationship with any personality in Moldova. We're working on entity level. Most are devoted to internal co-operation with Moldova. I was a region near Moldova and discussed with the prime minister and foreign minister. We've set a red line, that elections should be free and fair, that's why our contribution is to keep this red line from being passed. The Taiwan Union will strongly take place at the January 2021 summit in Bucharest at the foreign ministers' meeting. So a position that should be from all other countries. The embassy's movement to Jerusalem is not an issue. But this move was made by Trump. It was a analyzed and studied movement. So it's legalized. But there has not yet been a final decision to move our embassy to Jerusalem. Before the elections we must not support one or the other. Co-operation with Singapore is good, but it takes its time, we support the education of young people in this country. We organise events in Bucharest to bring young people from the Asian countries. We believe Romania can contribute to the multilatheralism system. For Brex, there is an official decision by parliament. The council has supported this decision. If Great Britain is going to delay the period of departure and bring about amendments to the draft, what we can do is create suitable tools for Brex and express their opinion on this consensus. I mean, Great Britain has made a difficult decision and I'm sorry about that. This is true of all the issues England has an important role. It affects protection, culture, development, innovation, the economy. We'll have to find a consensus. We have a different point of view for candidate countries. Efforts to implement the most important policies for the European Union must be praised. This applies to Turkey as well. This is our solution. Our relations with the issue are important to Romania. In terms of expansion with Western Balkan countries, I cannot surprise you Mr. Kukan. Because we will organise at the ministerial level a discussion on the Balkans, on enlargement. We'll open the cards on the table. David Mcallister will be present. That's what we can do. But I hope the results can be surprising to us, or to you. Regarding Turkey, I can say it has its internal and external problems. Relations with Hungary are excellent. We're still growing up with him. There is a good economic relationship and solidarity. There are different opinions, but it also depends on how we can perceive it. It all depends on cohesion and the Schengen issue, because it's a political criterion. In terms of irregular migration, I can say that migration pressure is enormous by the South of the European Union. The rules of money laundering legislation, which affects many candidate countries, have been analysed by the European Union, so we will focus only on deepening them.

EU Election Campaign Sets Off Enlargement Issue

As voters across the European Union head towards elections in May, the topic of EU enlargement to include the Western Balkans seems to be almost entirely lacking in the campaign. Analysts warn that this sensitive issue will likely be left on the side, at least by the end of the year, when a new European Commission will be sworn in. Erwan Fouere, a professor at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, told BIRN that traditional centrist parties have failed to communicate the benefits of EU enlargement. Enlargement has many advantages, but there has been a lack of courage from EU leaders to highlight those benefits, because they know that opening the topic of non-needed enlargement will bring votes,” he said. Enlargement supporters say the risk of putting aside this topic from traditional central parties is that it allows populist and right-wing factions space to play anti-enlargement sentiments among European voters. They stress that when the main candidate of the centre-right European People's Party, The EPP, Manfred Weber, launched his campaign last week in Cyprus, he did not even mention the historic agreement reached between EU-member Greece and Macedonia, aspiring to become a member, on the Macedonia name issue. German politician completely avoided the subject of the so-called Prespa Agreement, which is key to Macedonia's EU aspirations. “E fully respect the sensitivity of the Greek people on the name issue with FYROM. There was no interview on this subject,” wrote Weber on Twitter, referring to Macedonia in its provisional term set by the United Nations ( Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Macedonia's agreement with Greece on its name is of vital importance to the country's hopes for EU and NATO accession, which Greece has repeatedly blocked in the past. But analysts say the bad news for Macedonia and the entire Balkans is that it is not alone The centre-right EPP that is avoiding the enlargement issue. Other main parties are doing this too.

baffle policies reflect election fears

Since 2014, the Western Balkans have hardly been present in the European Council agenda, except when it comes to a security issue, counterterrorism and immigration. Bulgaria tried to make enlargement a political priority during the EU Council presidency in the first half of 2018. But the debates ended in disappointment, because EU states remain deeply divided as regards enlargement to include the Western Balkans and therefore could not agree to start negotiations with Macedonia and Albania. A summit held in Sofia in May 2018 and the European Council in June ended only with the promise that the enlargement issue will resurface in the agenda in June 2019, following elections and “depending on the progress made”. A document published on January 10th by the Centre for European Policy Studies, authored Fouere, warned that if populists and Euro-sceptics gain greater influence in the European Parliament after May, the appetite for enlargement will be even less. He called on the European Commission and EU diplomacy to adopt a more pro-active strategy in the Western Balkans. Fouere told BIRN that the most pro-active should not only be European institutions, but also the two major European political factions. PEPs and Socialists and centre-left Social Democrats. They must engage more closely, but also be less gentle with their partners in the region when they are washed away from the way of rule of law, he cautioned. Both the PEP and the Socialists in Europe have been very silent about the authoritarian behaviour of some of the ruling parties in the region that form part of their groups. This has fuelled the EU's impression of leaders as former Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who has since been sentenced to prison for corruption, which he avoided by fleeing to Hungary. European Socialists are traditionally considered more favourable for enlargement. However, Frans Timmmermans, the main candidate of the Socialists, has also not mentioned enlargement in his campaign so far. The first current deputy chairman of the Commission, in charge of rule of the law, spoke for the last time about enlargement or the Western Balkans in March 2017, when he said at a German Marshal Fund conference that the “borders in the Western Balkans should not be existential”. Rufin Zamfir, director for the Western Balkans at the Global Focus organisation in Bucharest, says that only populist parties in EU states are addressing the topic of enlargement in a hostile manner, feeling confident they will benefit from the emotional response this causes among many voters. The progress that populists in countries like Italy, Austria or France have made on this subject is also due to the fact that the two major political factions in the EU, PEP and the Socialists have left room for debate on completely abandoned enlargement,”. This will work for a less peaceful future in Europe, because what happens now is the basis for what we will see after May 2019,” added Zamfir.

EU voters “uninformed” for enlargement benefits

Fouere says the problem is not only the oriented approach towards the elite Brussels has undertaken towards the region in recent years. Public opinion in the EU has not been properly informed and does not understand the economic benefits the EU has reaped due to enlargement, he says. The welcoming of new EU members is certainly not very popular among European voters now, polls suggest. A Eurobarometer survey in spring 2018 showed that only 44 per cent of respondents would agree that the EU would accept new members, while 46 per cent were opposed. In the autumn of 2018, the issue on the EU's further enlargement to include other countries in the coming years” drew even less support in this survey: 43 percent were “pro” and 45 percent were “against. “Institutions and EU countries have not done a good job in explaining evolution in the Western Balkans to the public. The political and economic benefits of expanding EU borders, especially security benefits, to include the Western Balkans, are not properly recognised,” said. I find that the issue will probably not appear at all during the election campaign. But this should not stop leaders later from reaffirming previous commitments that were not respected for the Western Balkans,” added Fouere. Banca Toma, director of the Romanian Centre for European Policy programme, says changing direction is also in the hands of Western Balkan governments. They need to know that their best option with the EU is to take necessary reforms seriously, even when they clash with the interests of politicians and other groups. “There is no better alternative for the region than the EU and another alternative will not appear soon,” said Toma. “That is why supporters of enlargement should be encouraged, even though the Western Balkans received some attention, especially during the presidency of Bulgaria and Austria of the EU Council,” added Toma. “Anyway, evolution in the enlargement agenda depends on the priorities of the new European Commission and we'll recognise them by the end of the year,” that/Shekulli concluded.