LOCAL PRESS

 

Djuric: Union of Serb Municipalities is future for Kosovo and Metohija (RTS)

The Union of Serb Municipalities is entering the phase in which we should finally start its forming, stated the Head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Djuric. He has emphasized for Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) that the establishing of the Union of Serb Municipalities is closely related to the forming of the future Kosovo government. The Union is the future of the Serb people in the province, and that institution is the central part of the Brussels agreement, he explained. Djuric has pointed that the Union is already functioning even in the process of being formed though the Managing Team. Speaking of the “Park of peace” in Kosovska Mitrovica, he underlined that it was agreed in Brussels that it stays in place.

 

U.S. Embassy: We apologize for the mistake (RTS)

The U.S. Embassy in Belgrade has expressed regret for the wrong comment from Ambassador Michael Kirby regarding Serbia’s stance towards the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The fact is that both Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic in their statements had supported the territorial integrity of all UN member-states, especially confirmed the support to the territorial integrity of Ukraine, including Crimea. We greet such statements, reads the statement from the Embassy, adding that they are sorry for the mistake.

 

Dacic thanks India for principled stand in regard to unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija (RTS/Tanjug)

Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and Indian Ambassador in Belgrade Narinder Chauhan underlined the need for improvement of bilateral economic cooperation, further enhancement of political dialogue and exchange of visits on all levels. During the talks, Dacic and Chauhan stressed that the two countries share traditionally friendly ties forged in the Non-Aligned Movement, and pointed to the continuity of very positive political relations between India and Serbia, the Serbian Foreign Ministry stated. Dacic voiced gratitude on behalf of the Serbian government for India’s principled stand concerning the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and Metohija, and he also thanked the Indian Ambassador for the note of condolences and financial aid India delivered to Serbia after the catastrophic floods which hit the country in May. Stressing the need for improvement of economic cooperation between the two countries, Dacic and Chauhan agreed that the business cooperation is far behind the level of bilateral political relations and the two countries’ potentials. The Indian ambassador informed Dacic about the proposition of India for the meeting of the Mixed Committee for Economic and Agricultural Cooperation to be staged soon, as well as her country’s idea for organizing a visit of a delegation of Indian hi-tech scientists to Serbia. Chauhan also emphasized the growing interest of Indian companies in investing in Serbia, including certain major restructuring companies, states the release.

 

EULEX: No secret indictments (Danas)

The Head of the EULEX Press and Public Information Office Miguel Carvalho de Faria categorically claims for Danas that “there are no secret lists and indictments for arrests in Kosovo” and that “the press persistently publishes rumors and speculations that are completely without any ground”. “Legally approved investigations are implemented throughout Kosovo and they encompass people of all ethnic affiliations. The Kosovo law doesn’t have a decree on sealed indictments. Once it is submitted, the indictment is announced to the defendant and his/her lawyers in accordance with the legal procedure,” explains de Faria. He didn’t wish to specify why former and present Zubin Potok mayors Slavisa Ristic and Stevan Vulovic had been called for interrogation. “These calls do not represent arrest warrants. They were issued after the prosecutor had carefully examined evidence that is already within the documents. In this phase, the prosecutor established there was a need to examine two people of interest. That is standard procedure that is implemented in any legal proceeding. None of the officials outside the structures of rule of law is included in the decision-making process. The prosecutors decide independently, while independent judges can adopt their request – to decide on the request for the imposition of detention measures or to refuse those requests,” says Danas’ interlocutor. In regard to the speculations that these kind of calls should be soon received by other Serb politicians from northern Kosovo and Metohija – Marko Jaksic, Milan Ivanovic, Dragisa Milovic…, de Faria claims that “no calls of such nature have been issued”. “Every time when EULEX issues some call, regardless of whether at issue is the north or the south, rumors start spreading that all people from some specific group are targets – all Serbs , all politicians, all KLA members etc. EULEX doesn’t target groups – the calls are issued because the prosecutor established there is the need for examining some specific person who is of interest in regard to some case,” stressed de Faria.

 

Ivanovic: The Albanians also know that I am innocent (Novosti)

“I am absolutely certain that I will prove that I am innocent, but until then I must pay a high price. My life has been shattered, my family traumatized, my friends frustrated,” Oliver Ivanovic, one of the Serb leaders from the southern province, held by the Kosovo authorities in prison since 27 January, tells Novosti.

How do you interpret last week’s decision by the Appeals Court to dismiss your complaint to the decision on extending detention?

“I had no great expectations, knowing that in such a politically fragile moment the High Court will not opt for a ‘radical solution’ and release me on bail. At the same moment serious proceedings against prominent Albanian politicians, KLA members are ongoing or are being prepared, and the case of human organ trafficking conducted by the special investigative units of Clint Williamson, is administratively in the final phase.”

Therefore, the court passes a decision for political and not legal reasons?

“When you look at the composition of the panel of judges that would be deciding on my complaint, as well as the request for round protection of legality that we submitted to the Supreme Court, it is visible that they are comprised of two foreigners and one local Albanian – as an EULEX judge. Having in mind the fragility of cases and possible political pressures, I can conclude that I had significantly less chances, from the very start, of receiving a fair decision in this kind of composition of the panel of judges.”

How do you respond to the charges that you took part in the crimes against the Albanians in 1999?

“The charges themselves are completely meaningless, because, during the 1999 events, for which they are charging me, I was in Pristina and worked with many Albanians who were coming to work even then. I have many witnesses with whom I worked on a daily basis and who will testify this. In any case, I was not recruited nor did I take any part in the war events. After that, I was politically active, and my political stands cam be easily checked on the web site.”

What is then the real motive for the charges?

“Only what I had claimed from the very beginning: that this is the creation of an artificial political balance with some cleansing that will follow with the Albanians. In order not to cause big revolt among them, it is necessary to arrest some of the Serbs too.”

What does the process against you speak of the democratic capacities of the Kosovo society?

“It is enough for a person to read Pristina newspapers to see that there is not much democratic capacity here. The behavior of the political elite is mainly adapted to ‘instructions’ of influential Western embassies. It is still most profitable to attack and criticize Serbia and Serbs for everything bad in everyday life. There is complete distrust towards the Serbs, and it somehow seems to me that the public would easily ‘get over’ the fact that we do not exist!”

How much is the process against you also proof that the implementation of the Brussels agreement will be difficult?

“The Brussels process, by its very nature, is doomed to be long-term. The speed of the implementation will depend on the sincerity, but also on the continuity of the commenced process. Unfortunately, I think that the government in Pristina will be unstable and prone to frictions. Bigotry and intolerance of the Albanians towards the Serbs is much larger than I expected, so this significantly reduces the chances to find in due time some solution for coexistence. Fate assigned us to live in the same space, so we must invest much effort to try once again.”

EULEX harsher than Hague Tribunal

Can Belgrade do something else in order for you to be at least released on bail?

“The government has done what it could. It gave guarantees that I will not be able to ‘hide’ somewhere in the remaining part of Serbia. Such guarantees were sufficient for The Hague Tribunal, but not for EULEX. Before detention, I was called by an EULEX prosecutor. I responded, even though I was aware what the possible result of interrogation is. This means that I had the opportunity to leave Mitrovica, but I didn’t want because I would thus show someone that I have something to hide. And I don’t.”

 

Diplomatic gaffe (Politika, editorial by Aleksandar Apostolovski)

How did it happen for the U.S. Ambassador Michael Kirby to make yesterday such a diplomatic gaffe? On the day of marking a very important date, 100 years of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia, which our country didn’t accept, knowingly risking an attack by the greatest empire of its time?

It is unusual that the U.S. Ambassador articulates precisely on that day something that cuts so much into the ears of people exhausted from Western pressures and sticks with no carrots. And the insisting on the nuances of the statements of Serbian officials on Ukraine’s territorial integrity seems inappropriate, especially if one knows that it was precisely the United States that was the key country for Kosovo to obtain independence.

Thereby, Kirby’s silent and wrapped ultimatum, which lasted only several hours, is based on incorrect data, which the Serbian Government immediately proved with the help of Vucic’s numerous statements of stands of Serbia that respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and even Crimea as its integral part.

Even though the mentioning of Crimea is sort of pulling in about Moscow, which considers it its own territory and which, by the way, doesn’t recognize Kosovo. By the way, the Russians entered a war one century ago over Serbia’s refusal of the ultimatum, lost a czar and kingdom that included Ukraine, and in return they received Lenin, Stalin, gulags, communism and “Lada”.

If it is hard to believe that such a gaffe creeps to such an experienced diplomat as is Michael Kirby in a day like yesterday’s, which gathered the ambassadors of countries that took part in various trenches in the Great War, what then could be the motive for the announcement of the American great clean-up of Serbia?

Vucic and the Austrian Ambassador planted a tree of peace, red plum, while the U.S. Ambassador, instead of him also taking up the shovels of peace, sent some sort of twisted diplomatic warning to Belgrade to finally take a stand on what partner will it finally embrace: the U.S.-European or Russian.

Michael Kirby, though, expressly withdrew his statement and diplomatically sucked in his own mini-ultimatum. The man said he was sorry. Vucic, on the other hand, announced that he was surprised with the sentence of Kirby, whom he considers to be Serbia’s friend. Vucic is surprised, and Kirby is sorry.

Is this a short circuit or perhaps at issue is the first, cumbersome announcement that Serbia, by the beginning of September, or perhaps some fifteen days later, will still have to do what can’t be done – to introduce sanctions to Russia?

One more thing is also possible. That at issue is only that on the mythical hill of Serbia, which is considered the highest peak of the world in the local social-political geography, only a few meters higher than Mt. Everst, and at issue is Dedinje, and Michael Kirby shares the common feature of almost all U.S. ambassadors who live as if they were in golden cages. That feature is that they, simply, do not understand the Serbs. Even when they have interpreters.

 

REGIONAL PRESS

 

Radmanovic, Ambassador Cohen: B&H concerned over escalation of conflict (Oslobodjenje)

Member of the B&H Presidency Nebojsa Radmanovic welcomed David Cohen, Israel’s non-resident ambassador to B&H. At the meeting, they discussed B&H-Israeli bilateral relations, the political situation in B&H, and, as a statement from the B&H Presidency notes, the current events in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East. Ambassador Cohen informed Radmanovic of current events in the Gaza Strip and conveyed the Israeli government’s views on these events and methods of exit from the existing crisis situation. “According to Ambassador Cohen, the situation in Israel and Gaza is complex and sensitive. He reiterated that Israel does not wish to conquer anyone’s territory, but that problems in this part of the world are created by extremist elements on the Palestinian side that use violence, preventing the flow of everyday normal life in Israel,” the statement published after the meeting reads. It adds that the Israeli Ambassador reiterated “Israel’s right to defend itself in such a situation of escalating violence in Israeli national territory.” In the statement it notes that Cohen told Radmanovic that “Israel does not wish to occupy Gaza, nor continue this conflict, but simply stop the violence coming from the Palestinian Territories.” Radmanovic said that B&H is monitoring the escalation of violence with concern, about which it receives information from media, diplomatic, and political sources. “On the basis of this we are trying to understand what exactly is happening in this part of the world,” said Radmanovic, according to the statement. It was noted that Radmanovic told the Israeli Ambassador that he “understands the United States’ and European Union’s stance that emphasized the right of Israel to defend itself from terrorist attacks on its territory.” It notes that he reiterated to Ambassador Cohen his earlier principled advocacy for peace in the Middle East, about which in his discussions he has informed both the Palestinian and Israeli sides. “At the end of the discussion, member of the B&H Presidency Radmanovic expressed the hope that the final peace initiative for halting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be fruitful and finally bring peace to the region,” the statement reads.

 

Nimetz: I expect large progress in Skopje and Athens next week (Republika)

“This time I expect large progress at next week’s meetings with top officials in Skopje and Athens,” UN envoy in the name talks Matthew Nimetz told the “Voice of the People” broadcast.

“I will spend two days each in Skopje and Athens with the countries’ leaders, hoping to reach a mutually acceptable solution in the name dispute”, stresses Nimetz. The UN envoy expects good cooperation with the newly-appointed negotiator Vasko Naumovski, similar to the collaboration he had with predecessor Zoran Jolevski. “I wish Mr. Jolevski all the best in the new post, expecting fruitful cooperation with Ambassador Vasko Naumovski as the new representative”, adds Nimetz. The UN mediator will visit Skopje and Athens on 28-31 July.

“Nimetz’s visit is aimed at intensifying the UN-mediated negotiations for finding a mutually acceptable solution to the name dispute”, the UN said Wednesday in a press release.

 

President Ivanov met with US, EU ambassadors and OSCE, NATO representatives (Dnevnik)

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov had a meeting Wednesday with U.S. Ambassador Paul Wohlers, Head of the EU Delegation Aivo Orav, Deputy Head of OSCE Mission to Skopje Marianne Berecz and the representative of NATO Liaison Office in Skopje, LTC Marijan Ivanusa. Ivanov and his guests shared opinions about the expectations related to Macedonia’s EU and NATO membership, good-neighborly relations and current political developments in the country, the President’s Cabinet said in a press release. Macedonia highly appreciates the partnership and friendship with the US, EU, OSCE and NATO, Ivanov said and extended gratitude to the interlocutors for their engagement in advancing the relations and bolstering the cooperation. He also voiced the need for swift ending of the status-quo of Macedonia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, which will bring benefit to the country and the region.

In regard to recent developments related to ‘Monster’ case, the interlocutors agreed on respecting the right of protest. However, they pointed out that there could be no tolerance for any acts of violence. Any interethnic incident or attempt for inciting intolerance offers opportunity for politicization of the abusing the situation for personal or political gain, the interlocutors concluded. They consider the recent developments also offer an opportunity for open dialogue and strengthening the interethnic relations, the press release reads.

 

INTERNATIONAL PRESS

 

South Stream pipeline crucial for Serbia (Anadolu Agency, 23 July 2014)
Serbia's energy minister speaks about Russia's South Stream gas pipeline project
The South Stream gas pipeline project which is the largest infrastructure project in Europe awaits a crucial agreement between Moscow and Brussels, Aleksandar Antic, Serbian Minister of Energy and Mining said Wednesday.
The European Commission, however, opposes the project claiming it contradicts EU’s policy of separation of gas companies’ sale operations from their distribution networks. Most recently, the commission asked Serbia on Monday to suspend the construction of the project.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency in an exclusive interview about the ongoing debates on Russia's South Stream, Antic said the South Stream pipeline would bring great benefits and energy security to Serbia.
For the last two years, Russia has signed agreements with a number of EU countries for the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline, which aims to transport Russian gas to Europe by bypassing Ukraine.
 Antic underlined Serbia is a candidate for EU membership and has obligations arising from that status. He said whatever is pertinent for EU member states on the route of the South Stream should also apply to Serbia too.
“The abandonment of the project would work adversely not only for Serbia, but for a number of other countries involved in the South Stream,” Antic said, adding that, “I am optimistic and believe the gas will flow through the South Stream, regardless of the current dilemma.”
Orhan Dragas, the general manager of Serbia based research center, International Security Institute, explained Serbia's dilemma with the country needing to cover 90 percent of its gas needs with Russian imports - the only long term source of supply for Serbia.
“It is, of course, not a favorable circumstance for Serbia, but there are currently no visible alternatives,” Dragas said. “The South Stream may not be ideal, but is the most acceptable solution in the given circumstances.”
He added that Serbia aims to take a neutral position and maintain it as long as possible on the crisis between western countries and Russia.
- "Serbia’s ties with Russia are forced ones"
On the other hand, Director of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, Jelena Milic said Serbia’s ties with Russia are forced ones and are related to the country’s energy dependency.
“Russia does not want to admit EU legislation has an upper hand on domestic issues and is separate from international common law,” Milic said, referring to Russia's objection to EU's Third Energy Package, which restricts Russian energy giant Gazprom’s operation share in natural gas pipelines to a maximum of 50 percent. However, Gazprom refuses to adapt itself to the package and continues to negotiate with the EU countries separately, as Gazprom is the sole company allowed by the Russian Federation to operate international pipelines.
Milic said that there are three possible scenarios on the future of South Stream.
"Firstly, the Russians and the EU make an agreement, and this is the best case for Serbia, as we have already made two big down payments," Milic said.
The second scenario would be with no agreement between Russia and the EU. In this case, Serbia loses out, as the country has no clause in the agreement with Russia, in which if Russia fails to deliver the promised natural gas to Serbia, it should compensate Serbia.
The final scenario, Milic said, is the worst one.
"The EU forces Serbia to withdraw from the Energy treaty with Russia unilaterally. As Serbia's deal with Russia is 30 years long and it does not stipulate consequences in case of unilateral withdrawal, Serbian companies would have to additionally compensate Russian companies that have invested so far in the deal."
Montenegrin Capital Facing New Elections (BIRN, by Dusica Tomovic, 24 July 2014)
After long-awaited talks on forming a new city government in Podgorica collapsed, the Montenegrin capital could be facing early elections
After almost two months negotiations on a new authority for the city between the two national ruling parties the Party of Democratic Socialists, DPS, and the Social Democratic Party, SDP, collapsed on Wednesday, the capital could face new elections.
SDP leader Ranko Krivokapic, who is also the speaker of parliament, said new elections are "the most realistic option at this point".
No single party won a majority in the local elections in Podgorica on May 25, which were marred by numerous irregularities at polling stations.
The DPS, led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, won 29 of the 59 seats in the local assembly and only needs one more vote to form an administration.
The opposition, comprising the Socialist People's Party, SNP, and the Democratic Front together won 25 seats. The SDP is alliance with the Positive Montenegro party won five.
But negotiations on City Hall ran into trouble because the SDP refused to support the DPS candidate for mayor of Podgorica, Education Minister Slavoljub Stojapovic. The SDP demanded that the mayor be a non-political figure.
The SDP is Djukanovic's partner in government but has - confusingly - been in opposition at the local level in Podgorica since 2010.
"There can be no further negotiations as both sides are sticking to their positions - we to our concept that a non-political candidate should run the city, and the DPS that the head of their election list should be the mayor," Krivokapic said on Wednesday.
The opposition, led by the Democratic Front, has said it is ready to make an agreement with the SDP-Positive coalition "without conditions" in order to "send Djukanovic into opposition" in the capital.
However, Krivokapic rejected the possibility of an agreement with the opposition in the capital.
" That option is not open as SDP structures did not endorse it so far," Krivokapic added.

From feudal socialism to feudal democracy - the trials and tribulations of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (Open Democracy, by Ljubica Spaskovska, 23 July 2014)
In a country where political opponents are labeled as ‘traitors’, where individuals are perceived first and foremost as ‘ethnizens’ rather than citizens, where media freedom is under threat and political parties do not respect the independence of state institutions, the escalation of violence is but a symptom.
Those who were in Skopje in the summer of 2001, including myself, have frequently recalled how the conflict between the Macedonian security forces and the Albanian rebels came to its conclusion with the Ohrid Framework Agreement in August without any significant violence or rioting occurring in the city. I lived in my parents’ apartment in the middle of the old town where the majority of the population is of ethnic Albanian origin and we never witnessed or experienced the slightest incident.
Thirteen years later, however, the same neighborhood looked and felt like a battlefield. Riot police used tear gas, water cannons and stun grenades against the several thousand, mostly young, Albanian protesters heading towards the main court building. They were protesting the court’s decision to sentence six Albanians to life in prison. They had been found guilty for the murder of five ethnic Macedonians on Orthodox Easter in 2012. The prosecution framed the killings as an act of Islamic terrorism.
Although the riots were perhaps the most violent so far, they are only one segment in a chain of similar events and social phenomena which have been unfolding over the past five years. Equally, the contestation of the judicial process and the court system is not new. Both the 2013 EU progress report and the State Department Macedonia Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2013 noted serious flaws in the justice system. The former underlined ‘concerns about how the courts currently operate in practice’, ‘the independence of the courts’ and ‘the general quality of justice overall’, while the latter even quoted detained journalist Tomislav Kežarovski in the section on ‘Political Prisoners and Detainees’. These and many other civic protests, contestations of non-transparent decision-making and abuse of office over the years have fallen on deaf ears.
Not only that, but the Albanian partner in the coalition government - the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI) – has failed to take a firm stand on several grave violations of democratic procedures, such as the forced removal of opposition MPs and journalists from the Parliament in December 2012 during a dispute over the budget. They have remained in government with the Macedonian centre-right, conservative VMRO-DPMNE, all the while espousing salient nationalist rhetoric. However, the ‘competing idioms of nationhood’ in Macedonia and the reality of two ethnically defined political parties governing together in a rather stable coalition, without a shared platform or a common pre-election program have engendered a context-specific type of authoritarian consociationalism.
Indeed, for a quarter of a century now the Macedonian political elites have perpetuated the worst practices from the socialist period (authoritarianism, lack of media freedom, merger of the party and state institutions), while all of the positive legacies (social justice, workers’ rights, emancipatory policies, social mobility, etc.) have been abandoned. At the time, the late socialist political landscape of a weakened federal centre, empowered regional and communal elites vested with considerable decision-making powers, was described by scholars as ‘consociational authoritarianism’[1] or ‘’feudal socialism’.[2]
Almost three decades later, weak institutions, ‘consolidation of special interest groups’, and party politics rooted in identity politics have facilitated the consolidation of semi-authoritarian elites.[3] Despite the fact that Macedonia’s partocracy is underpinned by seemingly mutually exclusive ethnic/identitarian politics, there are nevertheless two crucial aspects of post-socialist transformation around which the Macedonian and the Albanian ruling parties have managed to forge a consensus: anti-communism and (flirting with) religious conservatism.
Not only has the socialist legacy has been progressively erased from the public space and existing historical narratives forged around the common antifascist struggle been played down and redefined, but Macedonia was one of the few former Yugoslav republics to enact a highly controversial Lustration Law which sought to bar from public office those exposed as ‘collaborators’ with the secret services during the socialist period. The amicus curiae opinion provided by the Council of Europe Venice Commission has been evoked by intellectuals, journalists and opposition leaders who have challenged the Law, in particular for its scope which also covers the post-socialist period until 2006 (coinciding with the electoral victory of VMRO-DPMNE).[4]
Prepared at the request of the Macedonian Constitutional Court, the opinion stated that
‘Introducing lustration measures a very long time after the beginning of the democratization process in a country risks raising doubts as to their actual goals. Revenge should not prevail over protection of democracy [...] Political, ideological and party reasons should not be used as grounds for lustration measures, as stigmatization and discrimination of political opponents do not represent acceptable means of political struggle in a state governed by the rule of law.’
Hence, in a country where political opponents are labelled as ‘traitors’, where individuals act, realise their political rights and are perceived first and foremost as ethnizens rather than citizens, are more easily mobilized over ethnic issues, where media freedom[5] is under threat and political parties do not respect the independence of state institutions, the escalation of violence is but a symptom. As I have argued elsewhere, since the 2001 Ohrid Framework Agreement, the Macedonian citizenship framework was reformed, democratised and expanded, but re-ethnicised at the same time on multiple levels, resulting today in its ‘fractured’ nature.[6] The fractured citizenship framework implies a state of relative instability, since, depending on internal and external developments and forces, the fractures could either heal in the future, or further deepen and lead to fragmentation.
Unfortunately, with political elites who do not work to calm simmering tensions but encourage them for their own political gain, coupled with general economic discontent and falling living standards, Macedonia is set to face some major challenges should it not find the means to overcome the negative legacies of the past and to revive what was positive in light of some more pertinent contemporary concerns beyond ethno-populist skirmishing for short-term political gain.
About the author
Ljubica Spaskovska is an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Exeter. She is a part of the research team of the University of Exeter based project '1989 after 1989 - Rethinking the Fall of State Socialism in Global Perspective' as well as a research collaborator at the CITSEE project at the University of Edinburgh
European enlargement is unstoppable (Prospect Magazine, by Michael Goldfarb, 24 July 2014)
Outside of the EU, the dream of the Union lives on
Since the fall of the Communist regime in 1990, Albania has had a rough ride.
As perplexing and enraging as it may seem to euro-sceptical British eyes, the European Union enlargement process continues.  And that is because for those on the outside, the idea of “Europe” still holds great allure. “Europe for us continues to be the dream that may have evaporated for you,” Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, told a group of journalists visiting Tirana in May. We were on a quick reporting trip to Albania and Macedonia organised by the European Commission.
The EU continues the process of expansion not because its functionaries remain suffused with the idealism of Jean Monnet, but for pragmatic reasons. The carrot of membership is attached to a forbidding stick with which governments only recently acquainted with the rule of law can be threatened.  The hope is that if potential members meet the various benchmarks the EU demands before accession, this will raise standards of transparency and governance. It would also prevent the western Balkans from becoming a blank spot on the map where national borders are permeable membranes easily penetrated by smugglers and traffickers of all kinds of contraband, as well as human beings.
But progress towards membership is assessed against more than border security—although that is what concerns most of us. Both Albania and Macedonia are making substantial progress in this area. The bureaucratic process also focuses on political criteria, including fair elections, a functioning justice system, human rights and press freedom, and economic criteria, as well—free markets and the free movement of labour.  Then there is harmonisation with the acquis, the accumulated legislation, European court decisions and other legal acts that make up EU Law.  These are divided into 35 areas to be assessed. (It really is bureaucrat heaven, the EU).
Since 2006, the whole process of EU enlargement has slowed down—partly due to fears that the criteria were being fudged to allow some former eastern bloc countries into the club before they were ready. Those fears are still present as the tabloid headlines about Britain being overrun by impoverished Romanian and Bulgarian hordes earlier this year demonstrated.
So the process continues, but at a snail’s pace. But there is a danger here. The would-be member states are not immune to political trends inside the EU. The elections to the European Parliament in May demonstrated that nationalist and authoritarian parties are doing well, and that the idea of “Europe” is not regarded as favourably as it once was. And the longer the accession process goes on the greater the likelihood is that voters in the Balkans will also go off “Europe” and take a populist turn instead.
This is particularly true in Macedonia. The country became a “candidate” for EU membership nearly nine years ago, but it is still some way from completing the accession process. Last April’s Parliamentary elections were won by a nationalist, right-wing grouping led by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski with 43 per cent of the vote. The result was challenged by the losing Socialist party which claimed there had been widespread fraud. OSCE monitors said the election was “efficiently administered,” but noted reports of widespread voter intimidation and media bias.  That didn’t really come as a surprise. Macedonia had been slipping down the press freedom league table for a while, and is ranked 123rd out of 180 countries according to Reporters Without Borders. In 2009 it ranked 34th.
Besides inspections and assessments, the EU has money to herd its wannabe members along. Macedonia, though, isn’t very good at getting its share.  Government administration is so poor by the end of 2013, just 37.3 per cent of the EU funding allocated to the country for the period 2007-2013 had been used.
Albania is just at the beginning of its process and pro-EU sentiment in government circles is very strong. Unlike their Macedonian neighbours, they have been very efficient when it comes to tapping the €100m, give or take, that the EU is providing for pre-accession assistance.
The enthusiasm is easy to understand. Since the fall of the Communist regime in 1990, Albania has had a rough ride. “This year is the first in our existence without conflict,” Edi Rama reminded us.  “Peace is too big a burden for our shoulders.”  It will be interesting to see what Albanians think if the process drags on for a decade as in Macedonia.
In the end, though, both countries, and others in the Balkans, will join the EU. It’s a matter of geography and history. Europe’s history for centuries has been driven by attempts to unite all its geographical territory under one banner. We’ve had the Wehrmacht and the Grande Armée. Now there is the EU. Those two days I spent in the Balkans dredged up  a 20-year old memory. At the height of the Bosnian War, a group of London-based American correspondents were summoned to meet the then Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd. We sat in the magnificent office overlooking St James’s Park and listened to him explain why containment rather than intervention was the government’s policy.  We pressed him. With thousands dying and hundreds of thousands being displaced, containment was inhumane—hadn’t the time come for intervention?
Hurd reminded us of the many civil wars around the globe and asked, rhetorically, “Surely, you can’t expect us to intervene in all of them?” Overawed by the surroundings, as I was supposed to be, I did not say what I was thinking, “With great respect, Foreign Secretary, look at the map.  This is the only war taking place in an area circumscribed by the boundaries of the EU and NATO.”
The cost to the EU—Britain included—for failing diplomatically to bring about an orderly dissolution of Yugoslavia is ongoing and has cost billions. Geography is inescapable and it makes Europeans of us all. “Europe,” meaning the European Union, is not the end of national identity, it is part of it.