“While we are fully aware of the challenges of the EU integration process, we are absolutely convinced that this should be the path of our region. We are currently adapting our activities on how to best respond to the enlargement crisis,” has revealed the Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB), Aleksandra Tomanic in an exclusive interview with Albanian Daily News in the first part of which she focused on the major areas of attention of the organizations.

Director Tomanic was worried over the air pollution in the Balkans and dwelt on the three-month project “Balkans United for Clean Air” campaign carried out in spring this year and announced that due to its success, EFB has decided to continue it this year. “Just last week, we announced it through the simultaneous regional tree planting action “Tree of Friendship”, when we planted a total of 400 trees in 9 cities of the region.”

Regarding the EU enlargement policy the Director is of the opinion that it has been in deep crisis for many years now and has not been able to unblock North Macedonia and Albania which is the final straw in an already deeply challenged process. “Previous decisions have already damaged its credibility – trying to flip a truly political process into a pure technical one, tolerating state capture for too long, prioritizing stability over democracy, buying time with new methodologies that provided no solutions, etc.” Ms. Tomanic said, adding that lately we have increasingly seen not only state capture on our side, but also institutional capture on the other one.

Ms. Tomanic was worried over the nationalistic narratives which have not been articulated this openly for a long time, particularly in Serbia and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dwelling on the perspective of the Berlin Process as its initiator Chancellor Merkel is leaving office she definitely predicted that it will encounter changes.

Asked about the Conference on the Future of Europe the EFB’s Director thought that it was a big political mistake not to include the Western Balkans in the Conference. “It pertains to the future of Europe, not the European Union’s. Furthermore, to include our region would prove a real commitment rather than just lip service. The Commissioner in charge hails from Croatia, so it is safe to exclude the possibility that the Western Balkans have merely been “forgotten”,” noted the Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans, Aleksandra Tomanic in the following interview:

Albanian Daily News: 2021 will be over in a month and a half, and it would be of great interest for ADN’s readers, Ms. Director, to learn some details on the activities carried out by the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) and the perspectives for 2022? Especially as we can say that the pandemic will remain an issue during 2022 and as this has become the critical concern of the Western Balkans, as throughout the world, what place does the fight against this fatal disease have in your future work platform?

EFB’s Executive Director Aleksandra Tomanic: The European Fund for the Balkans is active on three different levels, the EU/EU integration level, the regional level and the local level. While we are fully aware of the challenges of the EU integration process, we are absolutely convinced that this should be the path of our region. We are currently adapting our activities on how to best respond to the enlargement crisis. The Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG) remains crucial in this respect. The local level, were we focus our support to democratisation processes through engaged citizens, is a relatively new aspect within our work. We are trying to connect numerous local dynamics on a regional level through the Engaged Democracy Initiative. And this year the work with our EFB community, an alumni resource of around 500 well trained individuals that have gone through various EFB programmes over the last years, has intensified and is reporting interesting results.

The pandemic-related circumstances of course affect our work to a large extent. The European Fund for the Balkans is a regional organisation, we need real-life encounters for many aspects of our activities. This year we managed to go back to normal at least to a certain extent during the summer months. In September, we managed to organise a regional gathering of over 100 engaged citizens from the region in Belgrade at our “Engaged Democracy Convention”. In September we had an international retreat meeting in the framework of BiEPAG in Thessaloniki.

I am very happy to say that none of the events had any infections to report, which is of utmost importance to us. We introduced strict epidemiological measures, as we tested all participants, independently of their vaccination status. Some participants said they decided to join us only because they felt safe enough. I am afraid that these are some additional steps we will have to follow for quite a time ahead of us.

- Climate change was a major topic of two major events in Rome (G20) and the COP 26 UN Climate Change Conference. The EFB organized a 3-month awareness raising campaign regarding air pollution at the beginning of 2021 covering all countries of the region. Ms. Tomanic, how is your work linked with the major international events on climate change such as the latest ones, and what will be the impact of their decisions and recommendations on EFB’s work?  

- Last year, we began the “Balkans United for Clean Air” campaign, along with our great partners in all countries of the region - in Albania we have teamed up with the Environmental and Territorial Management Institute. The campaign aimed to inform citizens about the consequences of air pollution to their health, the main sources of air pollution and the institutions’ obligations concerning proper monitoring and information dissemination. On an annual basis, our region faces some14,000 premature deaths directly linked with air pollution, according to the WHO. Air pollution is a multi-billion Euro health cost burden for our countries. And it is a regional problem. We are all exposed to the toxic cloud that is killing us, and we are merely passing it around among ourselves, depending on the direction of the wind. Due to the campaign’ success, we have decided to continue it this year. Just last week, we announced it through the simultaneous regional tree planting action “Tree of Friendship”, when we planted a total of 400 trees in 9 cities of the region.

Climate change is here, it is one of the major threats to our planet. Also, our region often does not even consider itself as part of “Europe”, and the “Balkans here, Europe there” antagonism is stated far too often and wrongly so. Looking at the conference you have mentioned, it seems that our countries don´t really see themselves as part of the world either. The conference was organised in global groups and groups with a regional focus. Our countries were all listed under “parties without negotiating group affiliation”.

On a positive note though, we at least have the Green Agenda, signed one year ago by all countries in the region within the Berlin Process, with the clear goal of joining the EU in becoming climate neutral by 2050. To reach that goal, implementation would need to start immediately, with awful awareness that it would be easier if tackled regionally.

Still, too many high-level decision-makers remain focused on 19th century nation state building problems and historic myths. Maybe that is just easier instead of evolving and adapting to 21st century challenges.

Meanwhile, the future will just flood and burn us. Literally.

- Besides being stalled, it is a pity to note that the enlargement process of the WB is burdened with rising confrontations as the leaders of aspirant countries are harshening their rhetoric and questioning the sincerity of some Union members regarding the accession process. How do you see the perspective of enlargement in the context of Brussels claiming that the vacuum that is created is being filled by Russian and Chinese influence?

- Enlargement policy has been in deep crisis for many years now. Not being able to unblock North Macedonia and Albania is the final straw in an already deeply challenged process. Previous decisions have already damaged its credibility– trying to flip a truly political process into a pure technical one, tolerating state capture for too long, prioritizing stability over democracy, buying time with new methodologies that provided no solutions, etc. Lately we have increasingly seen not only state capture on our side, but also institutional capture on the other one. We need to start addressing shortcomings very bluntly: how can a credible enlargement policy under current circumstances – political, personal, technical – be restored at all? If not, what are the options?

Sincerity, or a lack thereof, is nowhere more visible than with the Kosovo visa liberalisation issue, overdue since 2018 when Kosovo fulfilled all requested criteria.

The current European Commission took office with the intent of being a geopolitical Commission. This will be decided in the Western Balkans. If you are not able to solve geopolitics in your own inner courtyard, you will fail further away, as well.

- Please let me touch on the Western Balkans. Even the most optimistic analysts say that there are clear signs of rising tensions among different countries in the region as ‘dormant’ or new disputes are aggravating. Do you think that a more coordinated action by Brussels and Washington is needed to avoid what they might describe as ‘too little, too late?

- I am afraid that our region is getting used to “too late, too late”. In my view, the increased tensions we have witnessed lately can be directly linked with the diminishing credibility of the “European perspective”. That is why it was so important to at least keep its credibility.

Nationalistic narratives have not been articulated this openly for a long time, particularly in Serbia and parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the latter, a new armed conflict is increasingly being discussed as an option. The term “war” is all over the media. This is absolutely shocking and unacceptable, and it needs to be taken very seriously.

It seems that the US administration is alarmed, and they seem to be increasing their awareness and focus back onto our region. On the one hand, that is really a poor result for this region. On the other, it is good that their eyes are back on us, as we obviously need that.

The EU needs to find ways to either restart its enlargement policy, seen as its most successful soft power and transformational tool, or to come up with other options that would be as relevant and credible.

- But despite this worrying panorama, there are increased efforts by the launchers of the ‘Open Balkans’ initiative to go ahead with it. Seeing things from the s perspective previously discussed, do you think that the initiative can be helpful and deliver, and could we expect a change of stance by the countries that have not joined it yet? How do you see the future of the ‘Berlin Process’ as its initiator Chancellor Merkel is leaving?

- Sometimes one would get the impression that it is easier to start new regional initiatives than to properly implement already existing ones. Signing ceremonies and taking family pictures are so easy to organise. Putting signed content into practise is actual hard work, often administrative and long-term.

In my view, regional cooperation needs to be inclusive. There is a number of regional initiatives, communities, bodies and agendas, all of them inclusive. Someone truly committed to regional cooperation has enough existing content to act upon. An example: the Berlin Process covers the inclusive Common Regional Market initiative, which somehow seems to be side-lined as so much attention is directed at the Open Balkans initiative, in which only half of the region´s actors take part.

The Berlin Process will definitely encounter changes as its initiator, Chancellor Merkel, is leaving office. But to be fair, we have to say that it was kicked off with a clear 5-year perspective. It was damage control, after former President of the European Commission Juncker said that there would be no further enlargement under his mandate. Now that the enlargement perspectives have become far more complicated, we need a fresh start of too many policies, including regional cooperation formats. 

Apart from lip service and big meetings, I also wish for regional cooperation were high-level decision-makers would help reduce prejudices, fight negative narratives, and explain and convince their constituents that our neighbours are our allies and friends. This would contribute to a real and much needed change of perception.

- To conclude, Ms. Director, many politicians and analysts say that the EU has its own problems making it more difficult for the Union to add problems concerning regions such as the WB. An example of the effort to put its house in order is the Conference on the Future of Europe. Although it will last until the spring of next year, little has been heard on its deliberations. Against this background, do you think that the WB could profit from its expected results whatever they maybe in the frame of the ‘restructuring’ of Europe?

- First of all, I think that it was a big political mistake not to include the Western Balkans in the Conference on the Future of Europe. It pertains to the future of Europe, not the European Union’s. Furthermore, to include our region would prove a real commitment rather than just lip service. The Commissioner in charge hails from Croatia, so it is safe to exclude the possibility that the Western Balkans have merely been “forgotten”.

There are attempts now to include some voices of regional CSOs into the process; however, this is harm reduction by certain engaged individuals on the operational level who have realized the extent of the damage that has been made.

The CoFoE is not delivering on its expectations within the EU, either. Too many questions remain open, for instance how to connect results to actual decision-makers. Furthermore, the numbers of actively involved and participating individuals and organisations are far below the expectations. There are already voices who argue that the entire process should be prolonged at least until autumn next year.

I am sceptical that the CoFoE will bring the much-needed changes for the EU. I can just hope that these changes will come as soon as possible, for the sake of the EU, but also for our own sake.