An EU promotional video released almost a decade ago, compares individual EU countries to aspiring members. France is linked to Serbia, with scenes from Belgrade that supposedly resemble Paris. Italy is linked to Bosnia and Herzegovina, doubtless because of a fondness for grandma’s home cooking, while Sweden is for some reason linked to Montenegro. The UK is paired with the then former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (today’s North Macedonia), seemingly bound by their respective fondness for statues. The remaining associations are somewhat more predictable for largely historical reasons – Spain and Kosovo (the former refusing to recognise the independence of the latter), Germany and Turkey, Austria and Croatia, and Greece and Albania.
The video ends with the tagline “so similar, so different, so European”; though the video itself only portrays – or contrives – the similarities. The differences are presumably so self-evident that they do not require further elucidation. Nor does it really matter, since all are “so European”.
Whether intended to strengthen the morale of those aspiring to join the EU, or to persuade those within the Union that they have nothing to fear from further enlargement (or indeed both), the advert constitutes one of the flashier examples of attempts to construct a notion of solidarity between those inside and outside the EU.
Ten years on, the question of solidarity between the Western Balkans and the EU is undergoing a fundamental reassessment; driven initially by the EU’s response to the migrant crisis and further compounded by its insufficient support to the region during the pandemic, especially where vaccines are concerned. Any top-down talk of solidarity on the part of the EU will these days be met with considerable cynicism. It is now left to transnational networks working from the bottom-up to salvage any notion of solidarity between the EU and the Western Balkans.
The meaning of solidarity
Reflecting upon the notion of solidarity between the EU and the Western Balkans during the COVID-19 pandemic requires assessing the way that solidarity has been discussed over several decades. It is often stressed that Europe is not complete without the Western Balkans, and the financial, technical, diplomatic, and human investments in EU enlargement have without doubt been substantial.
Credit for such commitments, however, tends to fall well short of what one might expect. In Serbia, for instance, public surveys regularly find that a majority believe Russia to be the country’s largest donor. Whether because of its own timidity or lack of strategic communications – arguably even a reluctance to trumpet its generous assistance – the EU is not making its investments sufficiently visible.
This is before we consider the fact that the much-vaunted enlargement project is a fading light throughout the region; especially after the membership bids of Albania and North Macedonia were blocked, despite the latter’s historic compromise over the name issue with neighbouring Greece. Politicians today would laugh if you mentioned 2025 as a prospective membership date; even Jean-Claude Juncker is probably chuckling to himself whilst swirling a glass of šljivovica.
Then there are the failed promises, notably the refusal to grant Kosovo visa liberalisation even though the European Commission deemed it had fulfilled all the criteria. Though there is great sympathy for Kosovo’s independence across Europe, one would be hard pressed to imagine protests on the streets of Paris or The Hague in solidarity with the young Kosovans eager to enjoy just a slither of the very freedom of movement that many Europeans take for granted. The scope for solidarity is extremely stretched when one of Europe’s youngest populations feels that it is being ghettoised; and worse, that this ghettoisation is a manifestation of European Islamophobia.
Solidarity in times of crisis
In times of crisis, acts of solidarity have a particularly profound impact. It is in such instances where either lasting bonds of friendship are forged, or negative sentiments crystallise. Some will recall the extent to which Europe came to the aid of the Western Balkans during the catastrophic floods of 2014, which devastated houses and infrastructure in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and elsewhere.
However, the refugee crisis that peaked in 2015-16 provides the most pertinent example. The so-called Balkan Route saw hundreds of thousands of people pass from Turkey into Greece and onwards towards western Europe. EU assistance helped countries – Serbia and North Macedonia, in particular – manage the unprecedented flows. Nearly all who passed through the region were treated with dignity and respect. The Western Balkans was commended, and rightly so.
After this initial solidarity, however, the closing of European borders sparked the emergence of a narrative that the region was merely a buffer zone, forced to tackle a problem that EU member states were unwilling to confront. It is one that has persisted. Recent pushbacks from Croatia into Bosnia-Herzegovina and the associated acts of police brutality have been widely condemned by the likes of Amnesty International. For all the rhetoric about European values, the relationship between the EU and the Western Balkans has increasingly been perceived as purely transactional, thanks to the former’s conduct during this crisis. European interests in this instance appear to easily trump European values.
Enter COVID
The EU’s response to the pandemic in the Western Balkans must be understood in this context. Its reaction during the first wave of COVID-19 led Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vučić, to remark that, “by now you all understood that European solidarity does not exist” and that it was “a fairy tale on paper”; adding that “the only country that can help us is China”.
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Ian Bancroft | Radio Free (2021-04-01T08:27:55+00:00) EU solidarity with the Western Balkans during the times of Covid. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2021/04/01/eu-solidarity-with-the-western-balkans-during-the-times-of-covid-2/
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