23
Apr
2024
Watch
Establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans (debate)
Mr President, Commissioner, every year there is a great deal of progress being reported on the Balkan countries, but there is no question of accession. How could that be? We have standards, the Copenhagen criteria, but we do not have clear standards. And so the Balkan countries remain in the waiting room. Should the Balkan countries all score tens on all components or should there also be insufficients in the list of components to be assessed? Perhaps, and this is just one thought, we should review the accession criteria. Maybe we replace them or supplement them with an impact analysis. After all, the impact of large countries such as Turkey or Ukraine is much greater than that of countries such as Albania. These countries are not comparable in terms of risk. A country with three million inhabitants should not have to meet the same standards on the Copenhagen criteria as a country with thirty million inhabitants. I'm just saying that. I am also concerned about the additional support that the European Commission intends to provide to the Western Balkan countries. I cannot avoid the impression that part of this support is given to compensate for the long stay in the EU waiting room. But large sums of money can corrupt and, in addition, internal tensions can boil to a boiling point with large capital injections with no clear purpose. To support the Western Balkan countries financially, preferably in the form of infrastructural and tangible projects, so that it is clear to everyone what the money is spent on and so that it is spent usefully and not – as in the past – on megalomaniac images or other useless things. Finally, I note that a swift accession of the Balkan countries will contribute to peace and prosperity in the EU and beyond.