15 years after the EU-Western Balkans meeting in Thessaloniki, the next meeting in the same format took place in Sofia yesterday. Ever since last year, some have pinned great expectations on this forum, though others have been skeptical over the participation of Kosovo which has not been recognized by Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia and Romania to this day.

Yesterday’s meeting has been receiving a mixed reaction. Optimists welcome the fact it put the Western Balkans’ integration back on the agenda of the EU. But skeptics say that the meeting was a disappointment – 15 years ago in Thessaloniki the European perspective of the Western Balkans was discussed with the express specification that they will become integrated into the EU, whereas in Sofia, there were no specific parametres or dates, even though some of the countries in the region have made headway on the road to the EU and are even in the process of pre-accession talks.

Yet the very fact of reviving the European perspective of the Western Balkans after the idea of further EU enlargement was kept in the freezer for so long, is in itself a success. Furthermore, the Sofia EU-Western Balkans summit served to provide assurances that the issue will not be dropped from the European agenda. Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz explicitly stated that when it takes over the Presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July this year, his country would continue the support for the Western Balkans on their way to the EU. Croatia assumed the commitment to hold another meeting between the EU and the region of the Western Balkans during its own presidency in 2020, while European Parliament President Antonio Tajani declared that the EP would support the Balkan priority in the EU’s policy. Avoiding specific dates for the European integration of the Balkan countries was explained by the participants, in the most general terms, with the fact that certain specific requirements have to be met. German Chancellor Angela Merkel was utterly candid when she said that the discussion was not about enlargement but about giving the Western Balkans a European perspective, adding “I do not think 2025 is a realistic date for the EU enlargement. More important is the progress that has been achieved by the candidates” and that the requirements to the EU candidates are not easy and will take time. The criteria for membership of the EU are connected first and foremost with rule of law, the state of the judiciary, corruption and organized crime, as well as the existence of serious problems and unresolved disputes among individual countries in the region. What the EU expects instead of problems and controversy is transport, energy, digital, educational and economic connectivity among the countries of the Western Balkans, effective action in the sphere of security, migration and the fight against organized crime, implementation of institutional reforms and guarantees of the rule of law.

Skeptics say that the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU has not lived up to the expectations from the Balkan summit in Sofia and that its contribution has been negligent. Still, most analysts describe the meeting as successful.

The comments by the President of the European Council Donald Tusk were in the same vein: “I don’t see any other future for Western Balkans than EU. No alternative, no plan B. The Western Balkans are integral part of Europe and they belong to our community,” though they are expected to do a lot more work.

PM Boyko Borissov pointed to the several agreements signed, including on a Bulgaria-Serbia gas interconnector, as an immediate benefit for Bulgaria from the summit. In his words, after the EU-Western Balkans meeting, all participants went away with one thing in mind – that with the current major geopolitical problems the only salvation for the EU is to be united and that its strength lies in unity.

English version: Milena Daynova