Erwan Fouéré, an Associate Senior Research Fellow at CEPS, has a distinguished 38-year career with EU institutions, particularly in the EU’s External Service. His research focuses on the EU’s role in the Balkans, EU enlargement, and regional stability, with a specific emphasis on North Macedonia. Fouéré was the first to hold joint roles as EU Special Representative and Head of Delegation in Macedonia (2005–2010) and served as Special Representative for the Irish 2012 OSCE Chairmanship, overseeing the Transdniestrian settlement. His past postings include Head of EU Delegations in Slovenia, South Africa, Mexico, and Cuba. A respected lecturer on EU Foreign and Security Policy, Fouéré has also contributed to the EU Masters Course on Human Rights (2000–2010).
XHABIR DERALLA / CIVIL TODAY: We would like to uh hear your thoughts about the Western Balkan region what is your assessment of the sociopolitical events and processes in the region? We see that there is a strong influence of Russia especially going through Belgrade. We see turbulences and turmoil in the other parts of the region, disagreements and tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, and the Republic Srpska is a story by itself. Montenegro is somewhere in between. We have a major change in North Macedonia, but that’s another question, of course. So, what is your assessment – where is the Western Balkan going?
ERWAN FOUÉRÉ: There’s no doubt that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union and in European Union integration. The problem is that the enlargement agenda of the European Union has suffered a lot from neglect by the European Union itself – delays, and not respecting commitments that had been made, etc. etc.
I guess we have to thank what’s happened in Ukraine for the reemergence of the enlargement agenda on the priority list for the European Union. Now there’s a renewed vigor to try to reactivate the whole enlargement process. In that sense, it’s particularly important to see that the Western Balkan countries are pursuing the reform agenda that is required, not only for the socioeconomic development of the countries concerned, but also in order to fulfill the criteria set by the European Union.
The problem is that a number of obstacles have happened, which have, in a sense, weakened the credibility of the European Union. In that respect, I am mentioning the bilateral disputes. I and many others in the think-tank community have been advocating that bilateral disputes should not impede the enlargement agenda. They should be part of a separate process, a parallel process to the enlargement agenda.
Therefore, what has happened between Bulgaria and Macedonia is particularly unfortunate, because it shows the double standards of the European Union and this weakens the credibility of the European Union.
And, to whose advantage is that? It’s Russia, of course. They are the largest actor in terms of disinformation, of attempts to undermine – in every respect – the democratic process in the countries concerned and all the countries of the Western Balkans. Their activities are purely to destabilize. This is what the European Union needs to understand in a much stronger way. Therefore, it needs to give much greater dynamic emphasis to the EU enlargement agenda, to the Copenhagen criteria, and avoid any situation, which can be taken advantage of by those who don’t want the Western Balkans to join the European Union such as, in particular, the Russia of Mr. Putin.
CIVIL TODAY: Yep, that’s right. And that also is giving space to far-right movements and the right-wing, nationalist, and populist political parties and groups to gain more power in the respective societies in the in the region. I believe that that’s also a warning sign that should be raised. Unless it’s too late.
FOUÉRÉ: Unfortunately, yes. We have seen – particularly in the most recent European Parliament elections – the rise of the far-right elements in several countries of the European Union. We know, of course, these far-right elements are anti-Europe, anti-enlargement, anti-immigration, anti-climate change, and pro-Russia and pro- everything that and anti-democratic, anti- human rights.
Of course, they affect all aspects of a democratic process, fundamental values which are right in the heart of the European integration itself. So, we have to be extremely careful now in the new configuration of the European Parliament, the new bodies, the new mandate of the European Commission, which will enter into force now, probably on the 1st of December, also, the new president of the European Council who is the former prime minister of Estonia, etc. So, this is an opportunity to reemphasize the fundamental values of the European Union and to ward against all of these elements who are attempting to undermine those fundamental values, and promoting authoritarian tendencies. It’s true that the European Union has it in its institutional setup in the treaties mechanisms to offset that. But, the European Union institutions have been very slow in invoking these, in particular the article 7 of the Lisbon treaty.
I think it is absolutely vital that in the new mandate of the Commission, and I’ve seen that the new commissioner for justice who happens to be Irish, in his responses to the questions that have been presented to him by the European Parliament – has made very clear that there needs to be a much stronger link between respect for the fundamental values of the European Union and the disbursement of funds. If countries like Hungary or Slovakia and others, who are clearly undermining the values of the European Union – if they continue with those activities – then there should be a blockage of funds to those countries. So, there is a very strong instrument that the EU can use to block activities that will undermine the European Union in the long run.
CIVIL MEDIA: Yes, let’s hope that these leaders will be at least stripped from some substantial amounts of money, which is actually their – I would say – major interest for being in politics. However let’s go back to North Macedonia and try to take a deep look into what is going on here. As we all know, there was a landslide electoral victory of the right-wing political parties that are now in government. More than 100 days of government have passed and it seems that there are quite a few obstacles to the major national interest of North Macedonia, and it is the European Union accession and integration. So, do you think that the new government in North Macedonia will “find its way” to the European Union or are we’re going to get stuck for another decade or so?
FOUÉRÉ: Well one hopes so, because it is the stated commitment of the new government to pursue – with renewed vigor – the process of negotiation for accession to the European Union.
After all, we mustn’t forget that the European Union is the largest provider of support, financial assistance to Macedonia. It is also the largest trading partner with the country, so the interests, by nature, of the new government should be to do everything possible to strengthen that relationship and therefore to respect and to fulfill all the reforms that are required by the Copenhagen criteria.
The problem is of course that we are confronting this bilateral dispute with Bulgaria, which is delaying the whole process. Personally I believe that the European Union has treated North Macedonia very unfairly, with all the obstacles that have been presented by individual member states abusing their power of veto. After Greece, it is Bulgaria and this is unfortunate, because this is not respecting the criteria set by the European Union.
At the same time, there are international agreements that have been reached regarding those disputes. We have the Prespa agreement, we have the one with Bulgaria, so I believe that there is, unfortunately, very little choice open to the government regarding the veto that was imposed by Bulgaria, which was endorsed, unfortunately, by the European Union. I think it set a very negative precedent, as regards the EU’s approach towards enlargement. However, it’s there and it has to be respected.
I would have hoped and I still hope, that in return for the government inserting the amendment to the Constitution, recognizing the existence of a Bulgarian minority in the country – as a sign of reciprocity – Bulgaria should respect all the many decisions of the European Court of human rights in Strasburg, recognizing the existence of a Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. This would be the minimum that would be expected from Bulgaria, which is a member country of the European Union since 2007. I do believe that Bulgarians and Macedonians, if they’re brought together free from politics, they will get on very well. So we need to create a climate to show to the politicians, particularly to the Bulgarian current government.
CIVIL MEDIA: What could the government do on our side in order to ease these relations, to ease this process? Maybe work a little bit more in respecting the commitments, overcoming the atmosphere of hostilities or hate…
FOUÉRÉ: Yes but it takes two in that respect, to really reach a new level of cooperation and I often refer to the Northern Ireland peace process as an example. Of course, there we had willing governments on both sides to find a solution to the many problems, but we did it in a way of mutual respect. There needs to be this mutual respect, a parity of esteem, as it’s called in the Good Friday agreement of 1998 in Northern Ireland, whereby there is a respect for the identity of the countries concerned, there is a plurality of historical narratives. In other words we don’t have to impose one’s historical narrative on the other. There needs to be a much greater dialogue, open dialogue, free from prejudice, and I think that requires efforts on both sides.
CIVIL MEDIA: And also the government should think of dividing the issues, the bilateral issues with Bulgaria, which is one story, and the obligations and the commitments taken towards the European Union integration process, being a different story. So, the Bulgarian dispute should not be an excuse for not fulfilling the obligations to the EU integration process, which includes human rights, justice, etc.
FOUÉRÉ: Absolutely, and I think that we have seen in the recent past examples unfortunately of situations where the independence of the judiciary is not being respected. There needs to be much greater effort to ensure that there is independence of the judicial processes. Also, the media able to exercise freely their profession, free from intimidation. This is the worst example of authoritarian system, if media is not allowed to criticize, as well as civil society should be allowed to criticize government when it believes that the government is going off track. It’s a strength of a society if such criticisms can be made openly, without threats from the government. I think it’s really essential that the government must be cognizant of that and aware of its responsibilities to protect freedom of the media, and to push very strongly for independent judiciary, as well as many other aspects.
CIVIL MEDIA: It’s unavoidable to mention the impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the impact of the hybrid warfare operations against Europe and what is the impact the region. Can you make a make an assessment of it?
FOUÉRÉ: At the very beginning, after the tragic Russian invasion, there was an immediate response from the European Union, from the Western allies. There was a united determination to fight back, to support Ukraine, because let’s face it, for Ukraine it’s a battle for survival, and we cannot allow the aggression of Russia to dominate. If Ukraine loses, Europe loses as well, the whole Western Alliance loses. It is a bit worrying to see that there has been a little bit of hesitation among some Western allies regarding continuing the support for Ukraine.
I believe that there needs to be a much stronger support, not only military but also the financial support, so that Ukraine can manage to repulse the Russian aggression. Also to ensure that all these activities of the Russian agents all over Europe we’ve seen it in many countries that this should be fought against and should stop. Mr. Putin was asked at his recent press conference after the BRICS Summit about these activities. He said it was all nonsense. But we know that Russian diplomacy is based on lies, constantly. Unfortunately.
We need to realize that and make sure that Ukraine gets all the support that we can give, so that it can succeed in this fight for survival. There’s no doubt about it. It’s a long-term process, and we have to try and make sure that the European Union remains united together with all the Western allies, and giving all the necessary support for Ukraine.
Xhabir Deralla
Camera, video editing: Arian Mehmeti
Photo: Biljana Jordanovska
