The family photo is part of the protocol at international conferences, but rarely one of the high points of tension. It was a bit different on Friday at the Foreign Office in Berlin. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had invited to the Western Balkans Conference. It is not often that Serbian Foreign Minister Nikola Selaković poses in front of the flag of Kosovo, whose independence Belgrade does not recognize, together with his colleague from Pristina, Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz. It was the visible sign that progress had been made in the past few months that had been considered unimaginable for years.
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, known as the Western Balkans states, have agreed to conclude three agreements that are intended to promote both economic integration in the region and the states of the aspired EU -Bring accession closer, as Baerbock announced in the afternoon and the foreign ministers of the countries confirmed in a joint statement.
Two agreements concern the mutual recognition of professional and university degrees, the third the recognition of identity cards as travel documents in the region. Serbia and Kosovo were unable to agree on this for a long time, which blocked progress for the other states as well. Baerbock praised the political understanding, which came about thanks to mediation efforts by the federal government, as an “important step towards rapprochement with the EU”.
It’s about the four basic freedoms as they prevail in the EU
Two and a half years ago, at a summit of the Western Balkans in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, they agreed to conclude agreements on the four fundamental freedoms on which the EU treaties are based – they guarantee the free movement of people, goods, services and capital in the internal market. “You make life easier for your citizens and help your businesses boost trade and economic growth across the region,” Baerbock said. “I really congratulate you on this breakthrough.”
At the same time, she called on the governments of the Western Balkan countries to “quickly implement all necessary steps to ensure that the agreements are signed as planned”. The heads of state and government are to seal them at the beginning of November at a summit meeting at the invitation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Thus, the 2014 initiated by Chancellor Angela Merkel Berlin process concrete political fruits. Merkel wanted to accelerate the rapprochement of the six countries to the EU. Although the prospect of accession had already been announced to them in 2003, for a long time there was no concrete progress towards realizing this perspective. In many countries caused people to feel abandoned.
Baerbock visited the Western Balkans soon after taking office and Manuel Sarrazin appointed a special envoy for the Western Balkans for the first time. Germany’s commitment gained new urgency as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The German government decided to take even stronger stances against attempts by President Vladimir Putin’s government to influence and destabilize the country. Serbia maintains close contacts with Moscow, and Russia also has considerable influence in the Republic of Srpska, the Serbian part of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Emmanuel Macron has reservations about a new enlargement of the Union
Sarrazin negotiated the agreements during numerous trips to the region in close coordination with the EU Commission over the past few months. Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored the political importance that his government attaches to the region with a trip of his own. He also received Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti in Berlin; the two then met for bilateral talks in the guest house of the Federal Foreign Office Villa Borsig at Lake Tegel.
At the same time, the Federal Government urged its EU partners to speed up the accession process for the six countries. There is resistance to this in France, for example, whose President Emmanuel Macron is skeptical about further enlargement of the Union, but also because of bilateral problems between countries in the Balkan region. The German government now hopes to be able to build on the three agreements and make further progress. After the foreign ministers’ conference, the economics and energy ministers will meet in Berlin on Monday, followed by the summit in November.