William Nattrass William Nattrass

Serbia’s membership talks should embarrass the EU

Balkan countries attend a signing ceremony in Berlin (photo: Getty)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz looked on with uneasy pride as leaders from six western Balkan aspiring EU members gathered in Berlin to sign new agreements this Thursday. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also attended the summit, which aims to encourage friendlier ties in this fractious region. 

Agreements on the mutual recognition of ID documents and educational qualifications to facilitate travel and work should have been a moment for the Balkans to celebrate. But the mood was dampened as back in Serbia troops were deployed to the Kosovo border, the army’s alert level was raised, and a drone was shot down near military facilities at the border by Serbian forces. In a further escalation on Saturday, representatives of the Serb community in Kosovo announced their wholesale withdrawal from Kosovan institutions.

Serbia rejects accusations of sabre-rattling, but its habit of responding to vaguely defined external threats with alarming shifts in rhetoric and action sends onlookers at home and abroad into frenzied panic at regular intervals. The Serbian director of the Office for Kosovo this week claimed an increased Kosovan police presence in the north of the country constituted an attempt at a ‘silent occupation‘ of majority Serb municipalities, while the Serbian Defence Minister said ‘no one should doubt‘ the army’s preparedness to protect all Serbs, ‘including Serbs in Kosovo.’ 

The ever-present threat of conflict between Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, is largely responsible for the state of suspended animation gripping western Balkan EU membership negotiations. The possibility of a new war ties all parties into talks, for fear that a breakdown in negotiations would lead to a flare-up – but it also makes the chances of either Serbia or Kosovo ever actually joining the EU slim.

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