Tirana Summit Midst Multiple Processes: A Confused European Union In The Balkans

Teoman Tulun ()

No n5zv6, OSF Preprints from Center for Open Science

Abstract: The latest Summit between the European Union (EU) and "Western Balkans" states was held in Tirana on December 6, 2022. The EU accession process for the “Western Balkans” countries is at the centre of EU- “Western Balkans” relations. The conditions for establishing these relations were first laid down in the EU Council Conclusions of April 1997. In 1999, the EU Council established the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and confirmed that the “Western Balkans” countries would be eligible for EU membership if they met the criteria established at the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993. As per the official position of the EU, the prospect of EU membership is an incentive to bring forward reforms in the Western Balkans. Reforms. these principles, which seem very consistent on paper, often provide an excuse for the double standard applied by the EU on membership, and it was a method used especially for Turkey in previous EU enlargements. The most obvious examples of this double standard are the hasty admission of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, Romania, and Bulgaria to the EU. In the case of the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus, the EU made a historical mistake by admitting an Administration of a divided island to the Union. It does not seem possible to say that the EU has a sincere answer regarding the extent to which Romania and Bulgaria met the EU's criteria listed above at the time of their accession to the EU. In fact, the discriminatory method applied to Turkey has been applied to the "Western Balkans" countries for years by the EU. In this context, the second paragraph of the Tirana declaration is in fact an another "lullaby" for the EU membership "perspective" of the "Western Balkans" countries. There are more than thirty initiatives launched by the EU involving regional nations in the Balkans region. The vital regional initiatives are the Berlin Process, Brdo-Brijuni Process and Open Balkan Efforts. The EU appears to be attempting to initiate a new procedure, as previous policies have either stalled or failed. The Berlin process that began in 2014 has evolved into an annual meeting of leaders in which they chat with no tangible outcomes. The fundamental question is whether the Tirana Process is new and whether it will be successful. As long as the EU does not get rid of the confusion about the Balkans and tries to change the historical identity of this region, it risks dragging the whole of Europe into chaos,

Date: 2022-12-13
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:osf:osfxxx:n5zv6

DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/n5zv6

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