EU Commissioner Kos also praises Montenegro's zeal for reform, which gives “a new impetus for enlargement throughout the Western Balkans”. 18 of the 33 chapters required for the country's accession to the EU have already been completed, and "several more" will follow this month.
“There is a realistic chance that Montenegro will complete the negotiations by the end of the year or early next year,” although ratification would then take another year or two.
But this is exactly where a big problem threatens. While Montenegro is close to the finish line, difficulties are emerging within the EU. Next year there are elections in France, Italy, Poland and Greece in which enlargement - and associated concerns in some parts of the population about immigration, labor market competition or costs - could quickly become a hot political issue. And even after that it doesn't necessarily get any easier.
France is becoming a brake
Because every EU accession must be ratified by all 27 current member states. In France, where according to the latest survey only 43 percent of the population supports EU enlargement, this would require a three-fifths majority in parliament.
However, since a large increase in the right-wing populist and Eurosceptic Rassemblement National is expected in the elections, such a majority seems doubtful. The alternative would be a referendum - which, however, would also threaten defeat.
Wadephul therefore adopts an alarmist tone. “We are at a crossroads in the EU enlargement process,” he warned at the press conference at the end of the meeting. He points out that the prospect of EU accession for the Western Balkans was already opened up in 2003: “And that was, if I counted correctly, 23 years ago.”
“Nothing achieved” in many years
He also takes a strikingly critical view of the results of the “Berlin Process”. Germany started the format in 2014 in order to “speed up the accession process a little” and make it “more effective”. “But if I do my math correctly again, the time [from 2003] to the start of the Berlin Process is shorter than the time since the start of the Berlin Process,” he criticized. “And in the meantime we haven’t achieved anything.”
Wadephul emphasized that he wanted to "really urge everyone" to show the candidate countries that the promise of accession "was real. That we are credible, that Europe is reliable." He refers to the “geopolitical opponents and rivals” who are vying for influence with the EU in the region: Russia and China.
It was only on Wednesday that Bosnian Prime Minister Savo Minic and his controversial politician Milorad Dodik traveled to Moscow to see Vladimir Putin. There they received the Russian president's "support" for Sunday's elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to Bosnian Serb state television channel RTRS.
The Austrian Foreign Minister issues a similar warning. The EU must "understand that the clock is ticking. And the clock is ticking very quickly globally. And we can no longer allow ourselves to linger in bureaucratic, even technocratic, processes," says Beate Meinl-Reisinger in an interview with "Politico".
