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To say that Aleksandar Vucic's words on March 16th set off alarms would be absurd. Alarms of Russian activity, influence and interference in the Balkans have been ringing continuously in Brussels and Washington since the mid-1990s. And China, a couple of decades. But Vucic's hardened speech, assuring that "European solidarity does not exist" and that "China is the only friend", went viral, using very current language, a major problem in the Union's backyard.

In the midst of the pandemic, and with serious difficulties for coordination and internal solidarity , the European Union did not have among its priorities what happened to the other border, and prohibited the export of essential material. "That resolution is made by those who come to teach us and tell us that we should not buy goods from China because theirs are of better quality and it is unfair competition. When all goes well, they are interested in Serbian money and want to sell us their products. When there is pain and suffering, Serbian money is useless, "snapped the president. The initial position "was corrected immediately", they explain in the European capitals , assuring that the countries that are in negotiations for future incorporations would not be left out. But the damage was done.

In recent years, Beijing and Moscow's attempts to strengthen their position, inside and outside the EU, are a headache. With Vladimir Putin there are clashes, threats, problems within NATO, accusations of cyberattacks and interference in the elections, if not poisoning, murders or threats, such as the one suffered by the Mayor of Prague these very days. What happens with China is very different, with less friction, but with gigantic commercial and geopolitical implications. An impressive economic expansion, with the acquisition, in the EU and its neighbors, of infrastructures, ports, companies.

Both challenges come during a moment of dispersion and lack of direction in the EU, and they feed into it. With Brexit, the echoes of the economic crisis, the divisions in axes due to the migration issue . Two years ago, the EU held a Summit with the Western Balkans, the so-called Six Partners (North Macedonia. Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo), the first in 15 years, which shows the degree of interest that the region of truth.

The message, wrapped with beautiful words and family photos in Sofia , was very clear: outstretched hand, but door closed. We are friends, we have to get along, but we don't want you in the club. Because the almost unanimous current of thought is that there will be no more expansions in the next decade, at least. The one from 2004 may even be the last one. There is no appetite, there is no will . Many capitals chastened and after the friction with Hungary and Poland of these years they do not want to hear about more experiments.

After the crisis due to the arrival of refugees and the authoritarian drift of Recep Tayyip Erdogan , the accession negotiations are frozen, and there are many more voices that actually ask to close that option definitively (with France and the Netherlands at the head) than those who they advocate to continue trying white power, as Spain prefers. A few weeks ago it was approved, after much work, to start the preliminary talks with North Macedonia and Albania, but few are deceived. That is why, in what will be known as the Zagreb Declaration, there is no mention of extensions , not even in the vaguest terms, it is a political and social disappointment, but not a surprise.

It is in this context, and with the coronavirus running, the heads of state and government of the 27 and the six Balkans have seen each other by teleconference . "It is not a Summit on enlargement," they stress over and over again from Spain, insisting that having been so, President Pedro Sánchez would not have made 'history' by agreeing for the first time to be in a high-level meeting with the Kosovar President. . It is a summit to try a rapprochement, iron out friction, approximate positions.

The proposal, in figures, is 3,300 million euros of financial and health care for the region . That is added to the more than 1,100 that, for example. Albania obtained a donor summit in Brussels earlier this year to finance the devastation of a devastating earthquake. But Kosovo, like the others, have called during the conference to remove, for example, visa requirements for their citizens to enter the EU, another of Turkey's historical claims . And that generates some anxiety in some governments. They want concrete things, not just money, even if it's very necessary. Technical assistance, advice, proximity. And something that can inspire disenchanted generations.

The European Union tries to square the circle . Prevent the Balkans from turning their heads to the east and the far east, at least definitely. They feel a certain heat, despite the fact that the doors are closed with a triple lock. That they do not feel treated like second class neighbors, even if it is difficult to sustain it. "The Balkans cannot be left to third parties, they are a living European fabric," urged Montenegrin President Milo Dukanovic in a tweet published during the Summit .

In the Foreign Action Service they are aware that the representatives of Putin, Erdogan and Xi Jinping are moving well, better than the community representatives. And that with Russia and China sitting on the UN Security Council, they cannot pose an ultimatum or blackmail, economic or emotional, to the applicants.

Sources consulted regret that the EU is unable to sell its achievements, monetize its efforts and campaigns. But they 'get it'. "It is not very complicated really: on one side there are actors, unscrupulous, let's say it, who are going to use all the resources they have to do, whether legal or illegal, moral or immoral. Disinformation, threats, bribes. On the other, we, with one hand tied behind our back, much less flexibility and having to agree on 27 voices . There are fights that you do not win without staining your hands, "community sources explain.

The inability of the European Union to win hearts hurts in Brussels more when officials and diplomats highlight that the trade relations of the Balkan countries are "20 times greater" with the 27 than with Russia or China . "Look at the signs of the constructions and the reconstructions", point out from Josep Borrell's team. " The flag always has little yellow stars, but it's blue, not red, " they joke.

The Zagreb Declaration, which has ended a very short Summit of just over three hours, consists of six pages and 20 points. There are many demands on friends, almost as if it were the formalization of a previous exam to continue dreaming of the approach. It is not a declaration between equals, but between member and aspirants. Good words and succinct reproaches, but really low political commitment. " The EU is determined to continue to step up its action at all levels to support the region's political, economic and social transformation, and welcomes the commitment made by partners in the Western Balkans to uphold European values ​​and principles and to carry out the necessary reforms with rigor and determination ", the document affirms.

But there are, in fact, some blushing points that show the desperate need for applause in the EU , with phrases like the one that says: "this support and cooperation goes far beyond what any other partner has provided to the region and deserves public recognition". In international relations and in a matter of solidarity, it happens as with jokes: if you have to explain them and demand laughter, you are not doing it right . And the fault cannot always be with the public or the speaker.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • China
  • Albania
  • Serbia
  • Russia
  • Spain
  • Macedonia
  • Montenegro
  • European Union
  • Vladimir Putin
  • Turkey
  • Josep Borrell
  • NATO
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

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