EU in the Western Balkans: What’s left of the sticks if the carrots are stale? Archives

Tue

May

“The EU accession process is a coaching exercise to transform North Macedonia into a proper European democracy”

EU in the Western Balkans: What’s left of the sticks if the carrots are stale? / #EuropeOnward / Eastern Focus

Interview Nikola Dimitrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of North Macedonia.
You have reached a historic agreement with your Greek counterparts on the name issue. But has it come at the wrong time for the EU? There seems to be a sense of panic in Brussels that whatever is to happen about the Western Balkans needsto happen before the European elections or it may not happen at all, if the populists and nationalists register significant wins. Are you going to have enough support from within the EU as you implement the reform process?

Tagged underEuropean Union Macedonia Integration

Tue

May

Time to learn from what has worked

Kristof Bender

EU in the Western Balkans: What’s left of the sticks if the carrots are stale? / Democracy & Resilience / Eastern Focus

By Kristof Bender | Vienna

The EU accession process can inspire reforms, increase prosperity, strengthen democracy and help transform the politics of the Western Balkans. In order to achieve this, it needs to be credible and fair. It needs to provide clear guidance to politicians, inspire civil servants and help them to focus, and signal to civil society where a country stands in any given area of reform. Currently the EU accession process does not achieve this.

Tagged undersocial movements European Union Western Balkans Integration social change

Tue

May

Europe’s blind spot: the streets rising up against local autocrats

Ana Maria Luca

EU in the Western Balkans: What’s left of the sticks if the carrots are stale? / Democracy & Resilience / Eastern Focus

By Ana Maria Luca | Bucharest

In mid-February thousands of opposition supporters clashed with police in an anti-government rally against Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s cabinet, demanding its resignation and early elections. Although Albania is set to start its accession negotiations with the European Union, Rama’s rule has backtracked in terms of democracy and the fight against corruption and organised crime.

Tagged underEurope reform European Union civil society Western Balkans Integration society Serbia Albania

Tue

May

“A time of monsters once more”: The danger of losing the Western Balkans

Jasmin Mujanović

EU in the Western Balkans: What’s left of the sticks if the carrots are stale? / #EuropeOnward / Eastern Focus

By Jasmin Mujanović | North Carolina

“How does Slobodan Milošević’s will begin?” asks a Serbian joke from the 1990s. “In the unlikely event of my death…”

As the anti-regime protests in Serbia enter their third month, that sardonic quip captures much of the mood on the streets of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and dozens of other towns across the country. For weeks, thousands have been airing their grievances against the increasingly autocratic government of Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), often by drawing direct parallels between the current president and the former strongman, under whose tenure the former served as Minister of Information.

Tagged underEurope European Union Western Balkans Integration enlargement