A Stable Balkans Means a Secure Europe

A stable Balkans means a secure Europe

The Paneuropa Movement Austria welcomes the EU states’ approval to open negotiations with Macedonia and Albania from June 2019.

All European peoples have the right to join the European Union upon fulfilling the criteria. From this perspective, we welcome the decision by EU states at yesterday’s Council in Luxembourg to open negotiations with Macedonia and Albania from June 2019, provided they continue to make reform progress.

“Enlargement policy must also be seen as security policy. It is precisely in Southeast Europe that these errors become apparent in a small space. One only has to consider the influence of Russia, China, Turkey, or even Saudi Arabia in the region. The longer Europe holds back, the stronger non-European influences become,” emphasises Rainhard Kloucek, Secretary General of Paneuropa Austria.

The costs of a zone of instability – and the policies of non-European countries create instability in Austria’s neighbourhood – are incomparably higher than the costs of admitting new states into the EU.

“The higher the democratic and rule-of-law standards, the better it is for Europe, the more attractive it becomes to invest in the region and thus create prosperity,” explains Stefan Haböck, International Officer of Paneuropa Austria. “What Europe cannot afford is a frustrated, reform-oriented, pro-European population in the Balkans.”

Macedonia was granted accession status in 2005, meaning it will have waited 14 years until 2019 for negotiations to begin.

Paneuropa also views positively the opening of further chapters in the ongoing negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro.

Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Russia and Turkey are particularly intervening, and the Republic of Kosovo must not be forgotten.

Referring to the freedom of movement for Europeans within Europe, Rainhard Kloucek and Stefan Haböck also demand the long-promised visa liberalisation for Kosovo and recall that Turkey has granted this to Kosovars, while Kosovo remains the only country in the Balkans subject to visa requirements for the EU.

The Paneuropa Movement Austria fully supports the federal government’s position to advocate for the so-called Western Balkans during its Council presidency.

Note: The Paneuropa Movement Austria is the Austrian organisation of the non-partisan Paneuropean Union. Founded in 1922 by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, it is the oldest European unification movement with 24 organisations in 22 European states.

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