Bećirović: By rewarding Serbia and punishing BiH and Macedonia, the EU is making a historic mistake

STRASBOURG, (Patria) - The Strategy for the Western Balkans will be presented today in Strasbourg, which will define deadlines for countries aspiring to full membership in the European Union. 

This is the first time the European Commission has presented a detailed plan and strategy of steps expected in the near future. According to the new plan, BiH should receive candidate status in 2019 and begin accession negotiations with the EU in 2023, provided it actively implements reforms and works on fighting corruption in the meantime.

What was stated from Brussels and European institutions is that they support the expansion of the EU with the Western Balkan countries. 

In the published documents, Serbia and Montenegro will be among the first to start negotiations. Montenegro has opened negotiations on 30 chapters, with negotiations on three closed, while Serbia has opened negotiations on 12 chapters, of which two are closed. The Strategy expects 2025 as the deadline for the conclusion of negotiations between Serbia and Montenegro and the EU.

The Director of the International Institute for Middle Eastern and Balkan Studies from Ljubljana, Dr. Zijad Bećirović, believes that the EU's blanket approach to the region, i.e., favouring Serbia and Montenegro, is an unfair approach towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Macedonia.

“The entry of the region into the European Union in phases, where priority is given to Serbia and Montenegro, speaks of a historical injustice, precisely because Serbia is most responsible for the situation in some countries of the region, especially in BiH”, said Bećirović as a guest on N1 television, noting that the complicated situation in BiH today, just like in the '90s, is not solely a consequence of internal relations within the country, but quite the opposite, “it is a consequence of Serbia's relations towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“If Croatia and Serbia wanted an agreement in BiH on key issues in the country, it would be achieved overnight. But the opposite is happening, Serbia and Croatia are exporting problems to BiH”, believes Bećirović, adding that both Croatia and Serbia have their political exponents in BiH.

He warned that if Serbia were to join the EU before other countries, it would be in a position to impose conditions on other countries on their path to becoming EU members.

“Now we have a situation where Serbia is being rewarded, even though it caused all these hardships for BiH and other countries in the region, which is unprecedented. At the same time, the EU is punishing BiH and Macedonia, setting impossible conditions for them”, said Bećirović, reports the Patria agency. The Director of IFIMES believes that Serbia and Montenegro should certainly be EU members, but that the region should “enter as a package”, or at least that BiH must be given a special status due to the unfair policy towards that country in the last 30 years.

“The EU should consider a regional approach, or find a model for BiH, which has suffered from unfair EU policy for the last 30 years, as well as Macedonia itself, because the EU has also left that country in the lurch”, said Bećirović.