Rama seeks understanding for Serbia that did not sanction Russia: Too much pressure can be harmful

Prime Minister Edi Rama, in an interview for “Politco”, has sought understanding of Serbia, which is the only country in Europe that has not imposed sanctions on Russia following its aggression in Ukraine.

“You need to understand that Serbia is in a position very different from many others, because of its history, due to special ties with Russia”, he said.

Rama said he believed Serbia should impose sanctions over time, but warned against the Belgrade push, which is highly dependent on Moscow for energy supplies, to do much and very quickly.

You want them to do it now, and throughout the range, it's practically impossible... It's suicide for their economy. The excessive exercise of Western pressure on Serbia could be harmful to the stability of the Western Balkan region”, Rama warned.

“We sometimes have to put up with others and understand what's going on, otherwise we can't keep this community together for higher and better purposes”, he stressed.

“I think Serbia is on track. Of course, not at the speed we may like or desire. But, believe me, other scenarios are really very bad for everyone and, especially, for this region”, Rama said.

Prime Minister Edi Rama, in the same interview, said he does not expect an EU summit -- to be held next week -- to pave the way for his country to start membership talks, and for that he blamed Bulgaria.

All EU governments agreed that in March 2020 they opened Albania and North Macedonia's green light for the start of membership talks.

But, negotiations have not begun yet after Bulgaria insists it wants concessions from Northern Macedonia in bilateral disputes regarding language, history and identity.

Although the Sofia blockade applies only to Northern Macedonia, the EU has favoured the joint treatment of Albania and Northern Macedonia's membership bid, so Albania is actually blocked.

The difficult situation of Western Balkan states is a timely warning about the difficulties of EU accession for Ukraine, which is demanding hard, amid Russia's war, to become a candidate for EU membership at next week's summit.

The EU has granted that status to northern Macedonia in 2005 and Albania in 2014, however, has not even managed to start talks with any of these countries.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Bulgaria last week in an effort to overcome the Sofia blockade ahead of the upcoming summit in Brussels, held Thursday and next week's Friday.

I don't have any expectations. I think nothing will happen. Albania and Northern Macedonia will not officially open membership talks”, he says.

Asked whether any EU leaders had signaled that the talks could start soon, Rama replied that “what signals could it give? This isn't about them. Again, it's Bulgaria. Everyone agrees, everyone supports, everybody thinks this should happen and that should have already happened. But their maneuvering limit is limited by Bulgaria. ”

Rama emphasises that he did not expect Bulgarian leaders to change their position, as they had made disagreements so big that it was very difficult to withdraw.

It's a spiral. They've entered a spiral. And from this spiral, it is very, very difficult to get out of”, Rama said, who will participate in a meeting of Western Balkan and EU leaders in Brussels before the summit.

Bulgarian officials have defended their stance, insisting they are simply urging Northern Macedonia to stick to previous commitments and seek to protect Bulgarians' rights in the country.

Northern Macedonia, in turn, has stated it is making trustful efforts to engage with Sofia and stressed that a bilateral dispute should not prevent the start of talks between the EU and a potential member”.

Rama confirmed that if there is no progress this month, he would demand that Albania's membership bid be addressed separately from that of Northern Macedonia ʹ a step the EU has so far hesitated to take, with officials arguing it would be better for regional stability if the two neighbours could advance together.

“If nothing happens in June, we will seek to separate from this couple, which is already constantly losing”, Rama said.

“I am confident that this is what we have to do and, whether the EU leaders will agree or not, that we will see”, he adds.

Rama also stressed that he supports the idea of French President Emmanuel Macron for a European Political Community an organisation that would be open to both members and non-EU members.

I think he's right. This should have been done a long time ago... because this is visionary”, Rama said, while refusing to enter into detail about the form the community should take.

This can be discussed, but in principle, to have a political community that is organised in different ways... is very important and is beyond the European Union we have today... which is clearly unable to deal with the challenges of time that are ahead of”, he said.

Macron defined his plan in part as an answer to the war in Ukraine, suggesting that the proposed community would be a faster way for Kiev to integrate into European political structures than the long process of EU accession.