Ministers, European foreign ministers met in Berlin this Friday to discuss the Western Balkans. Chancellor Scholz spoke of a future European Union with “27, 30, 36 countries”. This would then also include some of the Western Balkan countries. Do you share a vision?
Very. In the EU, Germany and Austria, one might say, are spearheading countries calling for all Western Balkan countries to be firmly anchored in society. You have to be clear about two things: The Balkans are sometimes casually referred to as ‘Europe’s backyard’, which is wrong. The Western Balkans are the inner pages of Europe. This becomes clear when you look at the map, surrounded by EU member states.

Secondly, 19 years ago, at the European Union summit in Thessaloniki, we gave all the Western Balkan countries the prospect of accession. This is also done for self-interest: There can be no sustainable security and stability in Central Europe without sustainable security and stability in Southeastern Europe.

Other countries like France are more on the brakes. What is your prognosis for when the first Western Balkan countries will join the EU?
I don’t want to commit to one year. It is very important that the accession process is trustworthy. It must make us think that the atmosphere in the Western Balkans is changing. Young people in particular no longer believe in the prospects in their own country and leave the region. All countries in the Western Balkans suffer from massive ‘brain blanking’. It cannot be in our interest.

Bosnia-Herzegovina has now accepted EU candidate status. In the last election, moderate candidates were able to achieve success there, but nationalists still dominated the event. How far is this country towards the EU?
All ethnic groups should find themselves reflected in the structure of the Bosnia-Herzegovina state. Christian Schmidt, as High Representative in charge of the implementation of the Dayton Agreement, found himself in a difficult situation while he was in office. He mastered his duties very carefully. We must not ignore the fact that the country is facing a difficult process of transformation. Our greatest hope lies in civil society. Youth in particular can bring about a change from a rigid and nationalistic way of thinking.

Does the way the EU conducts accession talks with candidate countries need to change?
The handling of the accession process with the opening and closing of individual accession chapters is highly bureaucratic. However, the EU must finally realize that expansion is our strongest geopolitical instrument. There is no vacuum in politics.

Either we succeed in making the states of the Western Balkans a part of our family, or they will be faced with other forces and other ways of life that we don’t like. We must present a clear counter-model to countries like Russia, China, or Middle Eastern countries that want to exert influence in the region.

Can it be argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has also accelerated the pace of EU accession to the Western Balkans, as society seeks to curb geostrategic influence in the region?
I hope so. On the one hand, the Western Balkans are a litmus test for the EU. If we don’t even manage to act geostrategically around us, then we won’t have to talk about EU policies for the Middle East or the South Caucasus anymore.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has been criticized for granting visa-free travel to people from countries such as India and Tunisia. This led to a new movement of refugees on the Balkan route. Will it be enough for Vucic to announce a change in visa policy at the end of the year?
There is a desire in Belgrade to adapt Serbia’s visa policy to EU standards. Words must now be followed by deeds. Of course we want it to happen quickly. Belgrade airport is a hotspot for people who enter Serbia without a visa and then end up in Austria as illegal migrants.

We believe that only conforming to EU visa rules will provide real relief. Nearly 60,000 asylum applications have been registered in Austria so far this year – the highest number in six years.

Should the European Refugee Summit Be Held?
No need for summits, but concrete steps, for example in border protection: provision of police units and financial support. Fortunately, seven years after the refugee crisis, the EU Commission now has a much greater understanding of the need than it did in 2015/2016. The deputy president of the EU Commission in charge Margaritis Schinas has assured Serbia financial support for border protection.

Let’s move on to EU sanctions against Russia. Several EU countries, such as Poland and the Baltic states, have called for sanctions to be tightened and more Russian banks targeted. Do you agree?
We now need a sense of proportion and nerves of steel. Some sort of sanctions mechanism that decides on a new package every four weeks when foreign ministers meet is absurd. We have a comprehensive sanctions regime with eight sanctions packages. Now we must have strategic patience to let it continue to have an effect.

In the EU’s general policy towards Russia, Hungary once again attracts attention as a hindrance. Hungary does not support the EU partner’s decision for an EU training mission to Ukraine.
It is astonishing to the extent that neutral countries such as Austria, Ireland and Malta have also approved this training mission. But I’m not going to overdo it either. But I found something else questionable: a national consultation will be held in Hungary on the usefulness of EU sanctions against Russia.

I find this plan disturbing. If the question is asked in a very tendentious manner, in the spirit of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, I think it is unnecessary propaganda in a situation that is already very stressful for all of us.

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