Enlargement Policy/ Tomanic at Public Square: There is a crisis, when the EU is ready we will be ready too

2025-03-15 10:57:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Enlargement Policy/ Tomanic at Public Square: There is a crisis, when the EU is

In the "Public Square" podcast, Ditmir Bushati, in a conversation with activist Aleksandra Tomanic, stated that according to him, there is no coordinated approach to how Serbia should be treated.

Asked about her view on this part, Tomanic stated that there is a crisis in enlargement policy because enlargement policy is more than opening chapters or reorganizing them into groups of chapters and so on.

According to Tomanci, enlargement policy is about political, economic criteria and political leverage, and this has been gradually abandoned.

She emphasizes that the EU did not want new members because it did not know how to treat them. Tomanic emphasizes that there are no politicians in this region who would like to reform their societies and build institutions and become Norway or Switzerland and in this case it remains to be said that the region will be ready when the EU is ready to accept them.

"If we go back ten years, we have a crisis in enlargement policy. Enlargement policy was the greatest soft instrument and the only tool of transformation that the EU was proud of."

But then the EU withdrew from this tool. Because enlargement policy is more than opening chapters or reorganizing them into groups of chapters and so on.

These policies are related to political criteria and economic criteria are related to political leverage.

This has been gradually abandoned. First there was Commissioner Hahn who was more focused on infrastructure and then the process of transactionalism started. Then there was the issue of stability.

Then the EU didn't want new members because it didn't know how to treat these members. And now everyone is talking about this restored moment but I miss two things.

For the Western Balkans, working groups on absorption capacity at the institutional level will be needed.

What does this mean?

Six new commissioners and so on. Because everything else is interpreted as us being so small, so poor, that there is no problem with absorption capacity.

And for Ukraine, which is the new geopolitical explosion, we will need to look at two working groups. One: what impact will this have on the budget? Ukraine will be among the 5 largest member states if it joins.

And the common agricultural policy. None of this is happening while everyone is trying to convince us that enlargement is on the right track.

If this leverage is lost and if it starts to be played and then what happened with North Macedonia happened, other countries see this.

What do we mean by this?

Unfortunately, we don't have politicians in this region who would like to reform their societies and build institutions and become Norway or Switzerland. And when the EU is ready, we will be ready too.

There will always be that game of carrot and stick (cake and whip) here, and that's what gets lost along the way.

"I think that's the biggest problem. And of course other players will come in," Tomanic said./ CNA