Under the title “Albania and the Western Balkans in the EU by 2030: Tackling the Obstacles Ahead”, the third in a series of BSC Leaders Meetings events took place in Tirana, Albania on Friday, May 17, 2024.

The panel discussion hosted distinguished speakers such as Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board, Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council and Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the European Council on Foreign Relations. Nikola Dimitrov, the president and co-founder of the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solucija and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, moderated the discussion.

Srđan Cvijić, the president of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy, made opening remarks by saying that the BSC Leaders Meetings are a place to discuss major foreign and security policy issues. “This one is dedicated to the momentous shift in the EU’s approach to enlargement and the palpable goal of having some, if not all countries of our region, in the EU by 2030. Regional cooperation is the key and that’s what we are doing here today.,“ Cvijić concluded.

Andi Dobrushi, the director of Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans, joined Cvijić in welcoming the participants and attendees of the event. He was looking forward to a fruitful discussion by sharing his belief that the BSC Leaders Meetings panel debate will help evaluate opportunities and challenges Albania is facing on its trajectory towards the EU.

When asked about his predictions on Albania’s EU membership by 2030., Edi Rama said that “this continent is in front of a very difficult democratic winter.” However, “there is much more openness for the EU enlargement and we have to do our part of the work. Albania will be inside the EU as integrated part of it without being members.“ Rama concluded that we have the control of the future, not the past. “We have to see the past with the eyes of the future, not the future with the eyes of the past,“ he explained.

“Both sides missed the opportunity to move forward and this is why there is skepticism regarding the EU integration in the region,“ Daniela Schwarzer from the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board said. “We need a gradual approach to the EU integration. The European growth plan is good step forward but candidate countries should go through the rule of law transformation,” she explained and stressed that the mere fact of having QMV disciplines the EU member states to deal with the matter more seriously.

Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council Majlinda Bregu said that “Learning by doing is going to be the name of the game when it comes to the region entering the EU Single Market.” She also added that 54% of Balkan citizens believe they will enter the EU, however, in Serbia the support to the EU integration is only 35%. “We should hurry and prepare our countries for the EU membership, instead of waiting for the EU,“ Bregu explained.

While moderating the panel discussion. Nikola Dimitrov said that a success of one would become success for all. “We desperately need good news in the region,” he explained.

Vessela Tcherneva shared her thoughts by saying that when there is talk about qualified majority voting in enlargement, it is usually an excuse not to proceed with enlargement. “Albania has a very good chance to be a front runner if it wanted to. A lot of that will depend on their ambition,“ she added.

“Alignment with CFSP will not be an option any more,” stated Tcherneva while Bregu and Schwarzer agreed, adding that it is likely there will be no funding (including from the EU Growth Plan) if candidate countries don’t comply with RoL and EU CFSP.

The panel discussion was followed by an engaging Chatham House debate “Bilateral Disputes and EU Enlargement: A Consensual Divorce“ that was built upon the conclusions of the latest BCSP and Solucija policy brief of the same title.

Watch the full video from the event HERE.

The post BSC Leaders Meetings Tirana: No more missed opportunities for the EU integration appeared first on BELGRADE SECURITY CONFERENCE 2024.

The Belgrade Centre for Security Policy (BCSP) and the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solution (North Macedonia) in cooperation with Open Society Foundations Western Balkans are honoured to announce that the BSC Leaders Meetings discussion will take place on 17 May 2024, from 10:00 CET, in Tirana, Albania.

The BSC Leaders Meetings present a series of half-day events organised throughout the Western Balkans. They are part of the Belgrade Security Conference (BSC) – a high-level international policy event organised by the BCSP each year in Belgrade. The BSC Leaders Meetings aim to gather policy-makers and experts who will discuss major foreign and security challenges facing the region, geopolitical events and trends affecting it, and to assess the future of democratic reforms, regional cooperation and the place of the Western Balkans in global politics.

Panel discussion “Albania and the Western Balkans in the EU by 2030: Tackling the Obstacles Ahead”

Ever since the publication of the Report of the Franco-German Working Group on the EU Institutional Reform in September 2023, the launching of the New EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans in November 2023, and more lately the Communication from the European Commission on pre-enlargement reforms and policy reviews in March 2024, it has become obvious that after an initial geopolitical impulse to accelerated enlargement caused by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the high speed EU integration train has left the station aiming to see the new member states join the Union as early as 2030. The Communication of the European Commission to the European Parliament and European Council has formally included all constructive proposals from the Western Balkans and European think tanks on how to render EU accession process more effective: introducing Qualified Majority Voting in all interim stages of the EU accession process, candidate countries joining the EU single market and gradual integration of the candidate countries before accession. Whereas there are many reasons for optimism, concerns remain whether the EU will achieve its institutional reforms in due time to welcome new members, and on the other hand whether the candidate countries in the Western Balkans will fulfill the criteria for EU membership before the due date.

The aim of this high-level panel of the BSC Leaders Meetings event is to take stock of the opportunities and obstacles standing between Albania and other Western Balkan countries’ EU membership by 2030.

Each BSC Leaders Meetings event includes a public panel discussion and a Chatham House debate dedicated to different foreign and security policy issues, including EU enlargement.

Agenda

10:00 – 10:15 Opening Remarks

· Dr. Srđan Cvijić, President of the International Advisory Committee of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy

· Andi Dobrushi, Director of Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans

10:15 – 11:45 Panel Discussion

· Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania

· Prof. Dr. Daniela Schwarzer, Member of the Bertelsmann Stiftung Executive Board

· Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council

· Alba Çela, Executive Director and Head of the European Program at the Albanian Institute for International Studies

Moderator: Dr. Nikola Dimitrov, President and co-founder, the Balkan Center for Constructive Policies – Solucija, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia

11:45 – 12:00 Q&A

12:00 – 12:30 Coffee Break

The post BSC Leaders Meetings Tirana: “Albania and the Western Balkans in the EU by 2030 – Tackling the Obstacles Ahead” appeared first on BELGRADE SECURITY CONFERENCE 2024.