Berlin Process, more inclusive than Open Balkan initiative, revived at latest EU-WB meeting
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- Scholz said the EU is also pushing the Western Balkan states to address the "challenges" of irregular migration, corruption and organized crime.
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TIRANA, Nov. 5, 2022 - A meeting of six Western Balkan prime ministers in Berlin on Nov. 3 with EU’s and Germany’s top leaders has revived the Berlin Process, which aims to bring regional cooperation on the way to EU membership for Albania Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on Balkan leaders to overcome regional conflicts as they look to make progress down the path to European Union membership amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
German Scholz inherits the Berlin Process, which is widely believed to have stalled after it was launched in 2014 by former German chancellor Angela Merkel with the aim of deepening coordination between the countries of the Western Balkans as well as supporting the accession process of the region to the European Union.
Scholz said the EU is also pushing the Western Balkan states to address the "challenges" of irregular migration, corruption, and organized crime.
The patience of some Western Balkan countries awaiting membership is wearing thin, and critics of the bloc's slow pace of expansion say it leaves room for Russia and China to expand their influence in the region.
"European integration is in our interest and even more important in light of Russia's brutal aggression in Ukraine," Chancellor Scholz said.
The leaders of the countries of the region signed agreements for mutual recognition of identification documents, university diplomas and professional qualifications.
It means the six countries will make it easier for citizens to have free movement throughout the region and have mutual recognition of the professional qualifications of doctors, dentists and architects. Currently, getting such documents recognized can be time consuming, costing up to 500 euros.
These are the same type of agreements that Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia had previously signed as part of the Open Balkan initiative, which critics say should fold into the more inclusive Berlin Process, since Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia have not joined the three other states due to fears of Serbia’s domination as a larger economy and disagreements between Belgade and Prishtina over the latter’s independence.
German Chancellor Scholz has called on Balkan leaders to overcome regional conflicts as they look to make progress down the path to European Union membership amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
“Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine forces us to stand together to preserve Europe's freedom and security.... It is high time to overcome regional conflicts that have continued for far too long -- conflicts that divide you and hold your countries back on your European path," he said. "That's why regional conflicts must be resolved. So, for example, the normalization process of Serbia and Kosovo must progress."
Scholz comments come amid simmering tensions between Belgrade and Prishtina this week over a plan to phase out old vehicle license plates and documents issued by Serbia for the Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo.
Kosovo and Serbia fought a bloody war in the late 1990s, with Kosovo eventually declaring independence from Serbia in 2008.
Belgrade -- as well as Russia, China, and five EU member states -- has not recognized its former province's independence and accuses Prishtina of suppressing the rights of minority Serbs, who account for 5 percent of Kosovo's 1.8 million population, which is more than 90 percent Albanian.
