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European Western Balkans
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European Commission releases the 2024 Enlargement Package: How much has each candidate advanced?

Commission members Josep Borrell and Olivér Várhelyi of the 2024 Enlargement Package; Photo: European Union

BRUSSELS – Annual European Commission reports on candidate countries, released today, show that compared to 2023, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia have each increased their levels of preparation in four out of 33 negotiating chapters. Kosovo and North Macedonia have increased their level of preparation in two negotiating chapters each, while the level of preparation of Bosnia and Herzegovina remains the same as in 2023.

Each European Commission report uses the following scale to describe the state of play in each of the 33 negotiating chapters: early stage, some level of preparation, moderately prepared, good level of preparation and well advanced.

This scale is often informally quantified and the numbers from 1 to 5 are given to each level. European Western Balkans calculated the average level of preparation on this scale for each country in the region.

Montenegro remains the frontrunner in the region, with an average grade of 3.2, on a scale from 1 to 5. It has improved its score from last year’s 3.12. Serbia, meanwhile, has improved its score to 3.11 from 3.05 in 2023.

The level of preparation of North Macedonia is 3.09 on a 1 to 5 scale, which is also an increase compared to last year when it was 3.03. Albania, which opened its first negotiating clusters this month, is at 2.8 which is an improvement from 2.74 last year.

Kosovo’s score in the 2024 Enlargement Package is 2.02 on a scale from 1 to 5, which is an improvement from 1.98 in 2023. Bosnia and Herzegovina, meanwhile, has seen no progress in its level of preparation and remains at 1.67.

“Enlargement is now among the top three issues of the EU”

The fact that there are ten candidate and potential EU candidate countries shows that the European Union acts as a magnet, attracting people and states, said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, at the presentation of the 2024 Enlargement Package, which took place today in Brussels. Borell addressed the media together with Oliver Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

Depicting the “unprecedented” challenges that the EU has been facing over the last five years, Borrell referred to Russian aggression against Ukraine, adding: ”We are standing firm to protect our values and to help Ukraine, both when it comes to the EU path of the country and at the battlefield.”

“You simply cannot maintain the ties with the Russian Federation and be a part of the European Union”, Borell underlined.

Josep Borrell and Olivér Várhelyi; Photo: European Union

Answering a question by a journalist, Várhelyi briefly said that he agreed with Borrell’s view regarding the need for alignment with the EU’s common foreign policy, including the restrictive measures against Russia, adding: ”It is the policy we have been running for the past 25 years”.

Asked about the current foreign policy of Serbia, Borrell stressed that the country should reassure the EU on its strategic direction.

“Serbia is a very important political and trade partner of the EU, but sooner or later it will have to align its foreign policy with the EU. Otherwise, the EU integration process of Serbia will be in jeopardy”, Josep Borrell underlined.

When it comes to the Dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, Borrell underlined that “the progress towards the EU accession must go “hand in hand with the progress of the Dialogue”, which implies that the agreements must be implemented.

Giving an overview of the EU accession process in the last five years, Oliver Várhelyi noted that “it was this Commission that has been working relentlessly to put the enlargement back on the agenda”.

“Enlargement is among the top three issues now, not just due to geopolitical circumstances, but because it is also in the interest of the EU. We re-established the credibility of the enlargement process. At the end of the next mandate of the European Commission we can see the enlargement happening”, Várhelyi underlined.

In addition, Várhelyi expressed hope that the “current pace and level of commitment we see in Podgorica will continue and that Montenegro will join the EU rather sooner than later”.

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