BELGRADE – The region of the Western Balkans has waited for EU membership for too long and the process now needs to speed up, said René Troccaz, Special Envoy for the Western Balkans of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of the French Republic. He also said that this process should run in parallel with the internal EU reforms, which are currently ongoing.
Troccaz spoke to European Western Balkans during the Belgrade Security Conference 2024, which is taking place this week.
“I think we have to do both processes in parallel. We have to enlarge, we wish to enlarge the European Union to the Western Balkans and of course to Ukraine and Moldova. But in parallel to that, because we have the perspective of increasing the number of member states, we have to reform ourselves”, Troccaz said.
Asked how he assesses the speed of the EU internal reforms, Troccaz acknowledged that it takes time, but that things are moving in this direction.
“It is something which is going on. There are discussions. It takes time, it’s true to say that. I think that both processes enlargement on one side and reform of the EU on the other will help each other”, he said.
The war in Ukraine brought a new chance for the Western Balkan countries, he assessed.
“We lost time with the Western Balkans, more than 20 years. Now we have to speed up and make this process faster. We take note of the fact that some countries are doing well but we take note that all countries wish to join the West, the European Union”, Troccaz said.
He added that there needs to be a visible horizon for these countries.
“We have this so-called gradual approach, which allows a country which is not yet a member state but a candidate to benefit from policies from the European Union. Here I’m referring to the Growth Plan, which will bring six billion euros for the coming three years”, Troccaz said.
When it comes to the Serbia-Kosovo dispute, he said that it is clearly one of the tensions that need to be overcome in the context of EU integration and that there is a framework, the Brussels-Ohrid agreement.
“We support the EU-facilitated dialogue, this is our policy. We think that within this framework, within this agreement, you have everything. What we have to do now is to go further on implementing this agreement”, Troccaz said.
He added that any unilateral measures that could spoil not only the implementation of the agreement but the whole situation on the ground should be avoided and that there needs to be an establishment of the association of Serb-majority municipalities.
“There are two sides that have to do to do their homework. We are not teachers, we’re partners. We want to support and we believe that stability is the key of the European integration, and that’s in the interest of all sides and all the countries that the region”, Troccaz said.