Author: Nina Anžič
Članek v slovenskem jeziku je na voljo tukaj.
This question may be provocative, but it is crucial if we want the Western Balkan countries to ever become members of the European Union. To begin with, I will highlight the fact that Marta Kos is the Commissioner responsible for Enlargement in the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen for the 2024–2029 term.
Commissioner Kos was born during the Yugoslav era, which means she has a deep understanding of the mentality, culture, and, not least, the language shared by the once-brotherly nations. The fact is that in 1991—then still the Socialist Republic of Slovenia—Slovenia was the first to leave Yugoslavia. Croatia followed, and that is when a bloody war began among the once-brotherly republics. Slovenia fared best at the time with its fourteen-day war for an independent state, if one can even measure such a thing during that bloody period among the once-brotherly nations of the former Socialist Federal Yugoslavia. Slovenia was the first to become a member of the European Union in 2004, with Croatia following in 2013.
However, regardless of whether the government was left-wing or right-wing, Slovenia has consistently and vigorously advocated in its foreign policy for a stable Western Balkans and the membership of these countries in the European Union. But where did things go wrong for countries like Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia?
The last country I mentioned even added the word “North” to its official name, yet is that still not enough for membership in the European Union? Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with their ongoing integration processes, still haven’t moved past the red light on the European integration traffic light. Both countries will urgently need to improve the state of democracy, freedom of speech, the rule of law, and, above all, the level of corruption. Yet in Serbia, we see a future in the students who refuse to give up and remain in the blockade with clear demands for the authorities.
Why is this same political establishment unable to listen to its greatest potential, which lies within the country? While young people in Serbia still offer hope for change, we unfortunately do not see this in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Have all the young hopes of Bosnia and Herzegovina already left the country to become part of a diaspora that returns home only on holidays?
Yet, let us return to the path of the European Union and Commissioner Kos. During her official visit, she met with both the authorities and the students at the blockade. So the EU clearly sees the efforts of young people in Serbia; I have no doubt about that at all. Members of the European Parliament are also active—here I can again highlight Slovenian MEP Irena Joveva, as well as Croatian MEP Gordan Bosanac. Likewise, the countries of the Western Balkans are already actively participating in the EU’s civil protection mechanism. When we experienced the worst floods in the history of independent Slovenia, every single country in the Western Balkans immediately came to our aid.
This raises the question: is cooperation in saving lives and property the only common ground between the countries of the former Yugoslavia and the European Union? If we do not seize this opportunity, Marta Kos’s term will be a wasted one—especially for the aforementioned Western Balkan countries. I seriously doubt that a Slovenian—someone who actually knows and understands this region, perhaps even better than the national policies of these countries themselves—will ever be appointed to this position again. It is precisely in this understanding that the key lies: Commissioner Marta Kos.