The Open Balkans and the Impact on EU Membership
Authors: Kalemaj Endi , Çela Ervis 
Published: June 2023

One of the EU strategies to address the challenges associated with EU membership, and in itself a precondition for membership, is regional co-operation and good neighborly relations. De facto interdependence and cooperation between neighboring countries in one area (such as infrastructure, transport, energy, free trade) is expected to lead to further cooperation in a wider range of areas, but also to regional stability, reconciliation and ultimately towards European integration. Lessons can be learned from examples of co-operation between Visegrad and the Baltic states, but for the Western Balkans, given their ethnic differences and past armed conflicts, building close regional ties and trust is even more important. Although not all countries in the region have opened membership negotiations, they are all involved in the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), a framework that aims to prepare them for eventual membership. The SAP places particular emphasis on regional co-operation and good neighborly relations. Regional co-operation has advanced and 'taken root' in the Balkans for a number of reasons and has been 'a transformative experience'. In addition to economic arguments (faster economic growth in general and smoother EU integration), there were also political reasons for strengthening regional cooperation. The need to create permanent conditions for security, stability, peace and development has been a major driver. Since the 1990s, numerous formats and initiatives for regional cooperation have been established in the Western Balkans covering a wide range of areas. Starting with the 1999 Stability Pact for Southeast Europe, the Western Balkan countries have joined in a range of formats and initiatives with a wide range, including economic, functional, political and security co-operation . The initiative to create Open Balkan or otherwise known as Mini-Schengen was first proposed by the former Prime Minister of Albania, Fatos Nano in the early 1990s. Nano's idea was to create a common economic zone on the Balkan Peninsula. But this idea was not elaborated due to the start of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Such an initiative was returned to the table by the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama during the meetings held in the framework of the Berlin Process. In 2018, Rama proposed such an idea to improve political relations between the countries of the region. The successful implementation of the Open Balkans Initiative may be accompanied by several challenges. For example, the abolition of border controls could exacerbate drug trafficking and various criminal activities. The European Commission has already stressed that the so-called Balkan route is one of the main entry points for various types of illegal drugs in the EU. Accompanied by a high level of corruption, with organized crime and officials often involved in acts of corruption with impunity, abandonment of border controls can turn out to be fertile ground for criminal activities. Moreover, in a borderless region, it may be almost impossible to keep track of the entry and importation of citizens' goods by third parties from different markets. Given that the former place the heterogeneous visa regimes of the participating countries under great stress, the latter would be particularly challenging in the light of different customs policies and import duties. If these challenges are not addressed properly, they can be an obstacle to deepening regional cooperation . If the strong commitment to this initiative continues, solutions can be found to the challenges presented. At the Skopje Summit, the troika announced that steps to establish a joint software and information exchange system are already under way. Together with a high level of coordination between interior ministries, the risks of increasing the volume of cross-border criminal activities can be mitigated. On the other hand, the exchange of information alone is not enough to prevent third-country nationals from entering a country without visa restrictions and then simply moving to another where such agreements with the country of origin do not exist. Establishing a joint visa regime may be the only solution. The same logic can be applied to goods entering a borderless market if they are required to pay customs duties of different levels for each country. However, in this case, just harmonizing customs policies would not suffice as countries would inevitably lose border revenues due to the lack of internal borders. Establishing joint regional institutions and external tariffs may be the required action. Otherwise, the participating countries of the Open Balkans endanger the porous borders like those between Norway and the EU, with common violations. It took Serbia nine years to finally fully implement the Integrated Border Management agreement by making the Joint Border Crossing Point operational. The functioning of the border crossing was part of the agreement between Kosovo and Serbia on economic normalization signed at the White House on 4 September. In 2011, Pristina and Belgrade signed the Integrated Border Management (IBM) Agreement as part of an EU-mediated dialogue with the parties agreeing to build permanent border crossings between the two countries, enabling the authorities of both places to work under one roof . When the agreement was signed, the Kosovo side claimed that with the IBM Agreement, Serbia recognized Kosovo's Independence, while the Serbian side insisted that IBM did not mean the recognition of Kosovo and continued to refer to border points as administrative lines. Although the EU-funded Joint Border Crossing Point in Merdare was finalized last year, the Serbian side refused to use the new facility with Serbian police and customs still working on temporary facilities. But the Serbian side finally agreed to relocate its staff to the new facilities. The move was welcomed by the US government and President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Dialogue, Richard Grenell. A new agreement, part of the so-called "Mini-Schengen Initiative", this new agreement will allow freedom of movement between the two countries for Serbian and Albanian citizens without having to present a passport at border checkpoints: they will simply be able to present a national identity card to gain entry. The Mini-Schengen Action Plan for Freedom of Movement and a Common Regional Market between the Western Balkan countries now has the support of Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Montenegro as the only hostage. Between 2021-2024, the action plan aims to implement the four freedoms on which the European Union is based and which EU countries currently enjoy: goods, services and capital, in addition to freedom of movement. During the signing of the agreement, the leaders of the 3 countries present also signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the fight against the new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which includes details about travel restrictions. Under this agreement, Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia have agreed that negative PCR tests for COVID-19 will not be required for trips between the 3 countries and that information on coronavirus cases in the 3 countries will be shared between them. This paper will address the initiative taken by the Albanian state for an open Balkans and other cases in the region.

 

Received: 10 September 2022 / Accepted: 21 October 2022 / Published: 30 November 2022