06/20/2022 11:14 (act 06/20/2022 12:48)
Schallenberg also feels responsible for the six countries of the Western Balkans. ©APA/BMEIA/MICHAEL GRUBER
On Monday, EU foreign ministers will discuss Ukraine and Moldova’s rapprochement with the EU in Luxembourg. The decision is expected by the end of the week.
The decision on Ukraine’s EU candidate status will likely be taken at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday. “What we expect for the next EU summit is a clear signal to the east, but also to the southeast,” Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) said ahead of meeting his EU counterparts.
Schallenberg wants similar signals to Western Balkan countries
The EU Commission recommended that Ukraine and Moldova (Moldova) be granted candidate status. “The EU is ready to welcome neighbors who want to join,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on the sidelines of the Luxembourg meeting. Austria links its approval to the EU by sending similar signals to countries in the Western Balkans.
“We should not give the impression that there is a two-class society,” Schallenberg emphasized. The impression should not be given that Ukraine and Moldova are “on the fast lane”. “We cannot afford geostrategic tunnel vision and be blind in one eye.” One is not only accountable to Ukraine or Moldova, but also to the six countries of the Western Balkans – Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. He stressed that North Macedonia has been a candidate country for 17 years and has been waiting for accession negotiations with Albania for two years.
It is a “very volatile area, the nervousness is palpable”, the foreign minister said, and warned: “Russia has the potential for destabilization far beyond Ukraine”. At the EU summit, Austria will definitely call for a “global discussion on the European neighbourhood”. When asked whether Austria would block the road if there was no signal in the direction of the Western Balkans, Schallenberg replied: “We hope the partners understand that (…) enlargement is the most important geostrategic instrument.” Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn also stressed that the EU must not “ignore” the Balkans.
EU foreign ministers discuss candidate status for Ukraine
After initial hesitation, the Netherlands now wants to approve candidate status. Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in Luxembourg that the European Commission had presented a “balanced proposal”. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Ukraine “still has some homework to do” in areas such as the rule of law and democracy.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock spoke of a “historic moment” in Ukraine’s EU accession process. “Now it’s important not to proceed according to scheme F, but to use this historic moment and make it clear to Ukraine from your perspective: you belong in the middle of the European Union,” said the German green politician. The challenges and tasks for the enrollment process are “unbelievably great,” but no one wants people to look back a few years from now and say, “How could you not enjoy this course?” Baerbock also supported the EU Commission’s proposal to nominate Ukraine’s tiny neighbour, Moldova, as a candidate for EU membership.
With a view to a possible expansion of the EU, Baerbock spoke out in favor of adapting decision-making processes in the community. “Now it’s not just about putting more seats in the European circle, but we have to strengthen the European Union together,” she said. In perspective, this means that majority decisions must also be reached in foreign and security policy so that in the coming years and decades we will have the necessary strength to defend European values.
Military aid to Ukraine could become a problem
Foreign ministers may also discuss military aid to Ukraine. So far, the EU has released two billion euros from a fund for joint arms purchases. Austria made these decisions possible, but is not actively involved due to its neutral status. Other themes of Borrell’s leadership are relations with Egypt and the situation in the Horn of Africa.