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Shkruar nga Gjergj ZefiFears of Russia and China are pushing the EU to accelerate expansion in the region...
The Tivat summit reveals the real reason for enlargement: Brussels is no longer guided by European idealism, but by the interests of security, economics, and global rivalry.
Top European Union leaders gather in Tivat, Montenegro, today for the EU-Western Balkans summit, at a time when enlargement policy is returning to the center of the European agenda. But the question increasingly being asked in European capitals is simple: why is Brussels seeking enlargement now, when the European Union itself is facing major internal challenges?
For years, the Western Balkans integration process was treated as a political and moral project for the unification of the continent. Today, the reality looks different. The war in Ukraine has fundamentally changed Europe's strategic calculations, and enlargement is no longer seen as just a political mission, but as a geopolitical necessity.
Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are at different stages of the accession process. All these countries form a geographical area located in the heart of Europe and almost completely surrounded by the territory of the European Union. For Brussels, leaving this region outside European structures constitutes a strategic risk that can no longer be ignored.
The economic dimension is as important as the political one. The European Union remains the largest trading partner and main investor in the Western Balkans. Trade between the parties has reached record levels, exceeding tens of billions of euros per year, while European companies continue to dominate key sectors of the region's economies. For Brussels, full integration of the Balkans means stabilizing economic chains, expanding the market and strengthening European economic influence.
However, enlargement is not taking place in a vacuum. Russia continues to maintain strong political, historical and energy ties to several countries in the region, particularly Serbia. China, on the other hand, has invested billions of euros in infrastructure, energy and strategic projects through its global investment initiative. The United States also remains a significant player in regional security and stability issues.
It is precisely this rivalry between great powers that has transformed the Western Balkans into one of the most important areas of geopolitical competition in Europe. The message coming from Brussels is clear: any political or economic vacuum in the region can be exploited by other actors with interests different from those of Europe.
However, enlargement also faces opposition within the European Union itself. Some member states worry that admitting new countries could make decision-making even more difficult in a union already facing deep divisions over security, migration and foreign policy issues.
For this reason, the idea of gradual integration is increasingly gaining ground, where candidate countries will gain access to the common market and European funds before receiving all full membership rights.
The visit of the President of the European Council, António Costa, to the region and the Tivat summit confirm that enlargement is no longer simply an idealistic project for the unification of Europe. It has become a strategic instrument to guarantee the security, stability and influence of the European Union in a period of fierce global rivalry.
In the end, for Brussels, the question is no longer whether the Western Balkans should be integrated, but how quickly this can happen. Because in the new European geopolitical logic, inaction is considered a greater risk than enlargement itself./ Pamphlet
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