Dangling its veto, Bulgaria only uses its position of EU member to achieve some of its foreign policy interests, in the same way that many others have done before. The problem is that the EU does not have the desire and the way to discourage such unilateral actions, Orhan Dragash from the International Security Institute in Belgrade writes in an article for EURACTIV.
“The fact that Bulgaria blocked the opening of EU accession negotiations with North Macedonia is neither a novelty nor a surprise. There is a long history of neighborly stumbling on the path to gaining EU membership. Slovenia blocked Croatia because of the border in the Piran Bay, so Croatia, as soon as it became the EU member, blocked Serbia’s negotiations, and Bulgaria did that briefly three years ago, because of the position of its minority in Serbia,” reads the article.
Moreover, it adds, Greece held Macedonia for decades without any chance of integrating into Europe and NATO, until it changed its name.
“All the while, the EU was repeating that unresolved neighbourly problems must not be a reason for an EU member to veto its non-EU neighbour. But who would believe that, especially after the Bulgarian veto? So, the problem is not that Bulgaria conditions Macedonia’s accession, Bulgaria only uses its position of the EU member to achieve some of its foreign policy interests, in the same way that many other have done before. And it’s completely legitimate. But the problem is that the EU does not have the desire and the way to discourage and prevent such unilateral actions of its full members,” Dragash writes.
According to him, to the fact that Bulgaria conditions North Macedonia with historical and identity issues, Germany, as the current EU presidency, is responding coldly and disinterestedly. In this case, the EU shows the greatest and most open disinterest so far in opening the door to new members from the Balkans.
Neither Brussels, nor the main European capitals are trying to find comforting, optimistic words for those who are still in the waiting room, they simply have no will for that anymore, the article notes.
According to Dragash, after the Bulgarian move regarding North Macedonia, it is difficult to expect a strengthening of faith in the EU and of the desire to join it anywhere in the Balkans.
“The vacant place of European enthusiasm is immediately taken by someone else, in whose plans for the future of the Balkans there is not much room for progress, security and development of the Balkan nations. And unfortunately in the Western Balkans, there is still a lot of potential for conflict, poverty and corruption,” he stresses.
And while Europe underestimates the risk that lies behind Bulgaria’s veto of Macedonia’s path to the EU, reads the article, fortunately, the United States has a clearer view and demands that such problems be resolved outside the EU accession process.
“Judging by the statement of Michael Carpenter, former foreign policy adviser to Joseph Biden, who said that neither Bulgaria nor North Macedonia get anything from the current conflict, that only those who want divisions in Europe benefit from it, the trend will continue in the future administration,” Dragash concludes.
