EU-Beitritt: Merz warnt vor Machtkampf um den Westbalkan

Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz has warned of a power struggle between the European Union, China, and Russia for influence in the Western Balkans. At a summit in Montenegro, he urged the countries in the region to make a determined push towards the EU. "The Western Balkans must not become a place where great powers vie for influence," he emphasized.

"It is in our shared interest that the states in the region move irrevocably towards the European Union." Stability for the entire region will only be created by this shared perspective. Merz pointed to Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine as proof of how urgent this issue is. Beijing is enticing with loans for infrastructure projects, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia have mostly been waiting for EU membership for many years.

Experts attribute the long waiting times to the growing influence of China and Russia in the region. Beijing offers loans for large infrastructure projects such as highways, rail lines, and tunnels, whose terms end up not being so advantageous in the end. Serbia maintains good relations with Russia and, as the only Western Balkan country, does not carry EU sanctions against Moscow.

In Bosnia, Serbian nationalist Milorad Dodik, the "strong man" of the Serbian part of Republika Srpska, deepens the division in the already unstable country with Russian help. For the second time in five months, Merz traveled to Montenegro to send a signal for rapid EU enlargement. He had already been there in June for an EU-West Balkan summit.

The current summit in a luxury beach villa on the Adriatic is part of the so-called Berlin process, initiated by former Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) in 2014 to promote EU approximation of the six states. "The countries of the Western Balkans belong to Europe, geographically and politically," Merz said in Budva. He stressed that Montenegro is on track to join the EU soon.

"Others will follow, others will follow," Merz said. Germany and France launched a new initiative in June to accelerate the accession process. In a joint position paper, the two countries called for initial integration steps even before full membership to create incentives for reforms. Fulfilling certain accession criteria should be rewarded with privileged access to the EU internal market or the dispatch of observers to EU institutions.

Montenegro is a leader in the enlargement process. Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic called the planned EU enlargement the "reunification of our continent." A credible, achievement-based enlargement policy would show that "Europe can act decisively to shape its future," he added. He assumed that Montenegro would complete the accession negotiations with the EU "by the end of this year" and become the 28th member of the Union in 2028.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos called Montenegro the "top runner in the accession process." The coming months are "crucial" to get the country to the finish line.