Debate: - Reports on Albania – - Reports on Kosovo – - Reports on North Macedonia – - Reports on Serbia
Date: THURSDAY, 25 MARCH 2021
Speaker: Olivér Várhelyi
Language: EN

As your reports recognise, we have gone through an extremely difficult year. But we have never lost sight of our closest neighbours, providing unprecedented support to the Western Balkans region. For example, the EUR 3.3 billion emergency support package a year ago was also coupled with an economic package of EUR 9 billion only last October, and we hope to raise another EUR 20 billion together with the economic plan. In addition, we extended a number of initiatives normally reserved for EU Member States to our partners in the region, effectively treating them as future EU members. This is in line with the strong commitment of this Commission to the Western Balkans. The region is a priority for us. Its future lies in the European Union. Our current focus is on providing vaccines as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this is proving more difficult than we had hoped. But I can assure you that we are leaving no stone unturned to get vaccines to the region. I am very pleased that the COVAX mechanism, to which the EU is one of the biggest contributors, is now delivering the first doses to the Western Balkans. We also continue working with EU Member States and vaccine manufacturers to work to resell vaccine doses to the Western Balkans under the advance purchase agreements for which the EU is making available EUR 70 million, only to the Western Balkans. In order to be able to continue our important support to the Western Balkans we would need to agree as soon as possible on the future instrument, the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) III. I express my hope and expectation to this distinguished House that we will soon be able to reach a compromise confirming to the region that the EU is a credible partner. Let me now turn to the reports. I thank all rapporteurs for their work and commitment. I will begin with Albania. Let me start by acknowledging the exceptional challenges the country has had to cope with due to the devastating earthquake just before they were hit with the COVID—19 pandemic. Albania’s determination in the pursuit of its EU reform agenda is therefore all the more remarkable. This enthusiasm and engagement is something that we need to praise and recognise. We consider that Albania has fulfilled the conditions set by the Council in March last year for the holding of the first intergovernmental conference (IGC). The implementation of the justice reform has continued. Both the Constitutional Court and the High Court have resumed functioning. The vetting process of the re—evaluation of judges and prosecutors is progressing smoothly. This is an unprecedented reform and has our full support. The fight against corruption, organised crime and money laundering have also continued. The specialised structures against corruption and organised crime have all been established. As you may have seen, there has been good progress made in law enforcement, where we have witnessed a number of successful large—scale international operations. Of course, we need to stress the importance of continuing the reform effort, particularly with respect to the further vetting and appointment of magistrates, as well as strengthening the track record on law enforcement. We have commended progress made on the electoral reform in accordance with the 5 June agreement of last year and implementing the recommendations made by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR). Ahead of the upcoming elections it is important – and I do encourage all political parties to do their best here – to maintain a constructive dialogue, also on all other crucial matters. This will ensure that Albania continues to deliver results and moves steadily on its path towards the EU. The Commission will continue to monitor this thoroughly and, at the same time, it goes without saying that the track record of the efforts against crime and corruption must continue. Against the background of all these achievements, we do look forward to the adoption of the negotiating framework and to holding the first IGC as soon as possible with Albania. We stand ready to help the Presidency to this end. Let me now turn to Kosovo. I’m pleased to see that we are very much on the same page on what Kosovo’s priorities should be to advance on its European path. The Commission also agrees with the Parliament’s position that it is high time to proceed on visa liberalisation for Kosovo’s citizens but, as you know, the decision has to be made by the Member States in the Council. We encourage Kosovo’s authorities to reach out to Member States to address their remaining concerns. This is a critical moment for Kosovo. The citizens have just made their voices heard through elections and the new leadership will soon be in place. There are three main messages I would like to make. First, it is essential to complete the setting-up of new institutions. After the formation of the new assembly and the new government this Monday, Kosovo needs to elect a new president without delay. Kosovo cannot afford more political uncertainty in these challenging times. Second, we welcome the fact that the winning party has put a strong emphasis on issues that are at the core of Kosovo’s European agenda, such as the fight against corruption and organised crime, economic and social development and the shift towards a greener economy. With its strong mandate, the new government will have an opportunity to deliver on reforms. The Commission stands ready to support it in its direction. However, we also expect the government to build and take ownership of key existing reform commitments and achievements. My third message concerns the EU-facilitated dialogue with Serbia. It is essential that the new government of Kosovo commits to continuing the dialogue. This is crucial for the citizens of Kosovo and Serbia, the normalisation of relations between the two and for the perspectives of both. EU Special Representative Lajčák visited the region earlier this month and expects that the next high—level meeting can take place within a reasonable time. Let me now turn to North Macedonia. Overall, the draft report is in line with the main findings of the Commission report and also the latest developments are fully reflected. As you have rightly pointed out, North Macedonia has maintained a steady pace in its implementation of EU reforms, in particular in key areas of the rule of law, the fight against corruption and organised crime. However, much needs to be done. The Member States’ decision to open accession negotiations last spring was truly historic. We look forward to the adoption of the negotiating framework and the holding of the first intergovernmental conference as soon as possible, hopefully still under this Presidency. In the meantime, it is important that both the government and the opposition continue to deliver on EU—related reforms, in particular with regard to the fundamentals. As you know, regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations form an essential part of the country’s process of moving towards the EU. It is important that bilateral agreements, including the Prespa agreement with Greece and the Treaty on good neighbourly relations with Bulgaria, continue to be implemented in good faith by all parties. At such a pivotal moment, I encourage both Skopje and Sofia to redouble their efforts to find a mutually acceptable solution to the pending bilateral issues. I would like to echo your report by encouraging all parties to act in a constructive manner and to refrain from statements or actions that might undermine the EU’s wider interests. This House has shown its continued dedication to improve the democratic processes in North Macedonia and to support the country’s EU perspective, including through the Jean Monnet dialogue. I count on you to remain engaged and to send common messages of encouragement to North Macedonia. Lastly, let me turn to Serbia. I welcome the report as an encouragement for Serbia to accelerate on its path to the EU accession. The report acknowledges the accomplishments while, of course, much more still needs to be done. I’m glad that the Joint Parliamentary Committee with Serbia has recently been relaunched, the inter—party dialogue with the Serbian Parliament and the European Commission, of course, strongly supports this dialogue as a crucial forum for cross—party debates. On the accession negotiations with Serbia, last week I presented to the Council a proposal of how the revised methodology could be applied both to Montenegro and Serbia. I look forward to the Member States deciding soon and bringing this forward. We need to encourage the country to remain fully engaged on its EU path. This is key for the stability of the region. We now have the opportunity to speed up the country’s accession negotiations provided that key EU—related reforms are implemented as an urgent priority. This is also an opportunity to make progress in the EU—facilitated dialogue with Pristina towards a comprehensive, legally binding agreement. We must build on the commitment of the new government in Belgrade. We need to engage intensively with the authorities in these three interconnected objectives: bring forward reforms; bring forward accession negotiations and successfully conclude the dialogue with Pristina. We have already seen commitment in a number of crucial areas, such as kicking off the second phase of the inter—party dialogue, launching the constitutional reform by submitting the initiative to change the constitution in the area of the judiciary to the parliament, and the government’s adoption of the action plan of the new media strategy. Of course, much more still needs to be done. Our priority now is to work with the authorities to help them translate these steps into tangible progress on the ground. We’re grateful for the continued support of Members of the European Parliament in passing these messages. Whatever the difficulties, Serbia should not lose sight of its EU membership goal. It should keep focusing on fundamental reforms with continued EU support. With this, I thank you very much for your attention.