Merkel's voice: Balkans is Europe's duty, not Russia's US

Explaining the reason for Chancellor Merkel and President Macron's invitation, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said they want to talk to “their conversationors about particular challenges in the region and primarily for the stage of Serbia-Kosovo” dialogue, Report DW.

Seibert refused to say anything about expectations for this conference. The program is not yet nearly”, he said, adding that this “meeting is further a product of the deep interest we have for the positive development of the Western Balkans”.

Great Concern for the Region

As an expression of this concern, Seibert also recalled the Berlin process, in which a meeting of foreign ministers in Warsaw was held today. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also attended. Poland will be hosting the next meeting under the Berlin process, to be held on 5 July. The Berlin Process aims at initiatives in the economy, transport and Youth sector to play an important role in improving bilateral relations among Western Balkan countries.

At the late April meeting in Berlin, there will be no representatives from either the United States or Russia”, Seibert said, thus answering Deutsche Welle's question.

Asked by DW if it was discussed earlier with Russia and the United States of America for eventual participation, Seibert answers: “Parely, the situation in the Western Balkans is sometimes the subject in our conversations with the American government. But we feel it as a first European task to bring this part of Europe into a stable, democratic and European perspective”.

Limits open

The process of dialogue on normalising relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which is one of Serbia's EU membership conditions, is considered stuck in the country since last year's summer, when the presidents of Serbia and Kosovo, Vuciq and Thaci, began spreading the idea of changing borders. While in the US there are opinions that do not rule out the border change agreement, the German government considers it taboo.

A stance that has nearly all German parties represented in Bundestag. Green expert for the Balkans, Emmanuel Sarrazin, also said in a press release, in the case of the Western Balkans conference' tilt on April 29th in Berlin, that the <x0 borders in the Western Balkans should be unprecedented”. Sarrazin expects the Western Balkans Conference not to be “lost to rhetoric”, but to send “clear messages”.

In addition to not changing borders in the Balkans, Sarrazin also called for the opening of EU negotiations with northern Macedonia and Albania.

German government spokesman Seibert, questioned at the conference for these two countries, said this is the competence of the European Union, and this depends on meeting the previous conditions. In Albania's case, he said that “functioning of democratic institutions and parliamentary work” enters here. He said the decision on opening negotiations would depend on the Commission's progress.