The Berlin process for the Western Balkans is undoubtedly one of the great German foreign policy initiatives, which are closely related to the name and personal involvement of Angela Merkel. Seven years since the beginning, and already at the end of the Merkel era, the summit has returned to where it originated.
But the pragmatic sobriety of the process, symbolized by Angela Merkel, retreated before the sobriety that has long reigned in the countries of the Western Balkans when it comes to expectations from EU enlargement. Processes have been stalled for years - on the one hand, due to vetoes and blockades from Brussels; on the other hand, because there is no substantial progress in the countries themselves.
With the departure of Angela Merkel, there is a fear that the strength with which Germany and the chancellor personally advocated for the six Western Balkan countries in the EU in previous years, as well as for the European perspective in those countries, will disappear. It would not only be desirable, but also in the interest of Germany and the EU, if Germany would continue to show itself, not only as a sincere mediator, but with all its foreign policy power as a locomotive of regional cooperation, and if it would stand up for the European perspective of the countries of the Western Balkans.
No right access perspective?
The balance sheet of the Berlin process is poor, if after seven years big developments and regional cooperation were expected. There is hardly any progress in reconciliation and mutual political recognition.
And yet, there are many very concrete successes on central issues that directly benefit people in those countries, and pave the way for normalization in the region: for example, an initiative that connects young RYCO, abolition of roaming charges from July 1 and preparations for the creation of a common regional market. By 2024, this project should provide the Western Balkans with the four fundamental freedoms on which the EU was built: the free flow of people, goods, services and capital.
It is a perspective that is perhaps more realistic than the integration of the region into the EU. Certainly many people in the Western Balkans no longer believe that the EU really wants them. Because even when countries do their homework, the EU denies them what it promised: the accession process of Serbia and Montenegro has stagnated for years, North Macedonia and Albania have not yet started negotiations, Kosovo is the only country where visa liberalization is constantly delayed. And Bosnia and Herzegovina, next to Kosovo, is the furthest from any concrete accession perspective.
The European Union is on its way to squandering its role as a landmark and perspective for the region. The promise from Thessaloniki has faded. Recently, during the procurement of vaccines, those countries felt left in the lurch. Other players are at the door: Turkey, Russia, China, but also the United States.
As long as the EU holds itself back by individual countries blocking enlargement to the Western Balkans, initiatives from the Berlin Process will be more important than ever. The impossibility of achieving major political progress against these initiatives opposes the policy of small steps. Small steps on the right path of regional cooperation that in the long term creates relief in everyday life and the normality of a peaceful neighborhood, where until now nationalistic divisions have dominated.
While the EU shines more and more in the Western Balkans, the engagement of individual EU states and institutions involved in the Berlin process could be a shining beacon. All parties that have candidates in the race to succeed Angela Merkel officially support the integration process of the Western Balkans. But more is needed to overcome the disillusionment in the region: Merkel has here with sober pragmatism launched a format that will need continuation, renewal and strengthening under the next German government. He deserves it.
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