Unpacking bilateral disputes in the Western Balkans: how serious an obstacle for EU membership?

On 4 July 2024, the EUISS hosted a closed-door roundtable discussion to address bilateral disputes between Western Balkan countries and how the EU should handle them.

For the first time ever, the 2018 EU Enlargement strategy demanded that Western Balkans candidate countries find ‘definitive and binding solutions to disputes with neighbours’ and resolve them ‘as a matter of urgency.’ This EU requirement related to good neighbourly relations and peaceful development has become an official EU accession (pre)condition in enlargement rounds. The rationale for the European Commission’s decision lies in its determination to prevent admitting countries under the current status quo.

Having experienced several bilateral disputes within its borders, the EU aims to avoid importing more, particularly given the multitude of bilateral disputes in the Western Balkans.

Under a precarious geopolitical environment and continuous calls for gradual/fast-track or merit-based enlargement, the EU faces a challenging task. It must not only reconsider its overall strategy toward resolving bilateral disputes but also decide the extent of its involvement in mediation efforts to find viable solutions.

The roundtable brought together experts Erwan Fouéré (CEPS), Michal Vít (Institute for Modern Development), Ljupcho Petkovski (Innohub Skopje), and Florian Bieber (University of Graz) to explore crucial questions:

• How should the EU proceed on the enlargement path with bilateral disputes getting under way?
• Should these disputes be left entirely to the countries themselves to resolve? - Should the EU do more, using its expertise and experience in overcoming former bilateral disputes between current EU Member States?
• Where is the fine line between the strategic autonomy of the involved parties to tackle the dispute themselves and the international community’s mediation role in the resolution of the conflict?

The discussion was moderated by Associate Analyst Bojana Zorić.