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Compliance with EU values is a key indicator of the strategic orientation of candidate countries

by AI | 31.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

A sharp warning from the Commission to candidate countries, especially those that have not aligned with the EU’s foreign policy, such as Serbia, which refuses to impose sanctions against Russia. Montenegro has advanced the furthest on the path to the EU.

Brussels, October 17, 2024 - High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Photo: EPA/CHRISTOPHER NEUNDORF

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BRUSSELS – Alignment with EU values, starting with the rule of law and with the common foreign and security policy, is the most important indicator of the strategic orientation of candidate countries on their way to the Union, said the first European diplomat Josep Borrell on Wednesday.

“Alignment with EU values, starting with the rule of law, and with the common foreign and security policy, is the most important indicator of strategic orientation in the new geopolitical context,” said the EU’s high representative for foreign and security policy Josep Borrell.

Borrell, together with enlargement commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, presented this year’s enlargement package which includes progress reports on 10 candidate and potential candidate countries.

Serbia is the only one that has not fully aligned with the EU’s foreign and security policy, and the report states that this country has not imposed sanctions on Russia, has maintained high-level relations with that country, and has intensified relations with China, “which raises questions about its strategic direction.”

Borrell says that Serbia’s membership in the EU is “the only sustainable way to build long-term prosperity.”

“We insist that Serbia align with our foreign and security policy, of which restrictive measures against Russia are an important part, and I think Serbia will align sooner or later, otherwise membership may be in question,” Borrell said.

Montenegro has gone the furthest in the negotiations, having opened all chapters. In June of this year, the Commission assessed that the country had met temporary benchmarks in the first fundamental cluster concerning justice and fundamental rights, thereby opening the possibility for the start of the second phase of negotiations, the closing of chapters.

At this moment, Montenegro is technically ready to close four chapters.

The report states that bilateral relations with Montenegro are deteriorating due to tensions arising, among other things, from unresolved bilateral issues.

It is stated that there has been no progress regarding the unresolved border demarcation between the two states or ownership of the ship “Jadran,” and that the adoption of a resolution in the Montenegrin parliament focusing on historical events in Jasenovac, Mauthausen, and Dachau has triggered a strong diplomatic reaction from Croatia, including declaring three Montenegrin officials personae non gratae.

For Bosnia and Herzegovina, which opened negotiations with the EU in March but is still waiting to open the first negotiating cluster, the Commission states that it has achieved tangible results in managing migrations, is fully aligned with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, and has adopted laws on the integrity of the judiciary, money laundering, and conflict of interest.

The Commission is preparing a draft negotiating framework, a key document on the basis of which negotiations are conducted, which is the main prerequisite for the start of concrete negotiations. (October 30, 2024)

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