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And, for the first time, the bloc was joined by many states, which for half a century were on the other side of the Iron Curtain, as part of the communist Eastern bloc led by the Soviet Union.
Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and Malta joined the EU on the same day. Two and a half years later, on January 1, 2007, Romania and Bulgaria, which were part of the same wave of enlargement, became members, but in 2004 it was estimated that they were not yet ready to become members.
This great enlargement of the EU is mentioned today in Brussels as a success, but this date is no longer marked with as much euphoria as before. EU enlargement is no longer such a popular process in the EU, although it continues with the goal of one day the six Western Balkan states becoming members. While in the case of major enlargement the process was seen as a “political priority with the aim of uniting Europe once divided on ideological grounds”, now the process is much slower and with many conditions.
Although the membership of Eastern European countries is seen as a success, some EU diplomats, with whom Radio Free Europe spoke, say that “from this enlargement were learned lessons that are now used in relations with the Western Balkans, and they are not always positive ”.
“The enlargement process during the accession negotiations had great transformative power, it helped a lot in the fight against corruption and in the reforms of the administration, the judiciary and the rule of law. But, after joining the EU, some of these countries marked a step backwards to these standards “, recalls a veteran in the EU institutions, adding that” this experience is now used by some countries such as France, the Netherlands and Germany to be more careful in the case of the Western Balkan countries ”.
“We have seen that the enlargement process is constantly becoming more difficult and slower. While countries like Slovakia or the Baltic republics took about two years to start and complete membership negotiations, Croatia took six years. “Montenegro, even after ten years of negotiations, has not achieved much, it has opened all the chapters, but has closed only three”, says this official.
Undoubtedly, they see Northern Macedonia as the biggest victim in the enlargement process from the Western Balkan countries. The country had embarked on a European integration process ahead of Croatia, as the first country in the Western Balkans region to reach a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU, but even after 18 years failed to start membership negotiations. Northern Macedonia had applied for EU membership exactly in the year of the great enlargement.
Following this great enlargement to the EU, some countries began to use membership to hinder the progress of neighboring countries in this regard. In Brussels, diplomats cite the long-standing blockade of northern Macedonia by Greece over name disputes. Then the blockade of Croatia by Slovenia due to disputes over the border at sea. Bulgaria is now blocking northern Macedonia due to disagreements over historical and ethnic interpretations.
“The enlargement was a political ideal and no one wanted to disrupt this historic process. “Later the process became more technical, which is why we have seen so many blockades,” said an EU diplomat.
As “bad” lessons from the enlargement process so far, European diplomats most often mention four countries that still have “problems” with the rule of law. First are Romania and Bulgaria.
When they joined the EU on 1 January 2007, they became members on the condition that the EU provide them with monitoring mechanisms to measure their success in the fight against organized crime and corruption.
It was then believed that these states would advance in these areas and very soon these mechanisms would be extinguished. But, even after 15 years, this goal has not been achieved, so the EU continues to monitor these two countries through the so-called “verification and cooperation mechanism”.
Another example that Western EU countries use as a “lesson learned from enlargement” are Hungary and Poland, which, according to Brussels, have a problem with respecting the EU’s core values, which they agreed would respect them, but now as member states, they violate them.
Both Hungary and Poland have been criticized for politicizing the judiciary, violating press freedoms, and are now accused of violating European Union laws.
“These lessons have not forced us to give up on further EU enlargement, but they have nevertheless influenced us to be more cautious,” said a senior European Commission official, adding that “it should not be forgotten that “The Western Balkans are far from meeting the criteria required for EU membership, especially in the field of law and order.”
At the moment five states have candidate status. Turkey, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Northern Macedonia. Practically, only Montenegro and Serbia are continuing the accession negotiation process.
Negotiations with Turkey, which began on October 4, 2005, the same day they began with Croatia, have been practically frozen for years.
Montenegro and Serbia open and close chapters, but at a very slow pace.
Albania and Northern Macedonia have candidate status, but have not started membership negotiations.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has applied for membership but has not received a positive opinion from the European Commission on candidate status.
Kosovo has not yet applied for membership and has announced that it will do so this year. An obstacle for Kosovo may be the fact that it has not been recognized as a state by five EU member states.
Prior to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova also applied for EU membership.
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