Wadephul: Kosovo is a potential candidate for the EU, Croatia can help it

Wadephul: Kosovo is a potential candidate for the EU, Croatia can help it

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Zagreb that Croatia could serve as a “bridge” for advancing Kosovo and the Western Balkan countries’ EU membership, stressing that the process is not simply technical, but also geopolitical. According to him, Kosovo is considered a potential candidate, but does not yet have a date for membership.

The EU accession process for Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo is not progressing. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul wants to boost the EU enlargement process with these countries. He believes that Croatia has a key role to play in this regard, writes Deutsche Welle Albanian. 

“We must now give a new impetus to enlargement for Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkan countries,” the CDU politician said during a meeting with his counterpart Gordan Grlić Radman in the Croatian capital, Zagreb. “I hope that Croatia will play an active and decisive role as a companion,” he added.

Wadephul: EU membership always a geopolitical issue

Among the Western Balkan countries, Montenegro is considered the most advanced in the EU accession process, but no date has yet been set for its accession. The EU has been conducting accession negotiations with Montenegro and Serbia since 2012 and 2014. Negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia began in 2022. Bosnia and Herzegovina has candidate status for accession, but has not yet started negotiations. Kosovo is a potential candidate for accession.

EU membership is not just a technical process, but also a geopolitical issue, Wadephul said. “We must not abandon our neighbors to autocrats who seek to exert their influence through disinformation and corruption or to force us into new dependencies,” he warned, without mentioning countries like Russia and China. Alongside the enlargement process, the EU must reform from within to be able to face geopolitical challenges as a capable and democratically consolidated Union.

Bridge to the Western Balkans

Croatia is indispensable to the enlargement process, Wadephul said. “You know the difficulties of the accession process from your own experience. This makes you a bridge between the Western Balkans.” Croatia has a “crucial role for Europe to continue to grow, not only in terms of membership, but also in strength, cohesion and influence.” Croatia was the last country to join the European Union, in mid-2013, and is also a member of NATO.

Croatian Foreign Minister Radman stated that his country was actively participating in the EU negotiation process with the Western Balkan countries.

“We do not want to see third-party influence on these countries. The Western Balkans are part of Europe; they belong geopolitically and geostrategically to the EU,” Radman stressed, reports D.W.