Macron is Gambling Away EU Influence in Balkans

Macron has presented the fundamental argument that the entire EU enlargement process must be reformed before France will allow any country to start accession negotiations - which would then last for at least a decade.

He not only failed to offer any alternative approach for the EU to the Western Balkans, but also failed to outline which specific internal measures should be taken to prepare the EU for the inclusion of future members.

Macron's position derails the EU's long-standing strategy for the Balkans, which comes at a very high price for the region. France is gambling with the EU's remaining influence on its own doorstep and its ability to shape strategic development and promote political stability in southeastern Europe.

France has long held the view that enlargement is fundamentally incompatible with deeper European integration. Growing rifts with Eastern Europe over migration and issues related to the rule of law and defence - as well as poor management of the euro crises and the blunt rejection of all proposals to deepen the currency union - have entrenched the French view that the 2004 enlargement cycle was a tremendous mistake. In hindsight, it marginalised France and blocked further integration.

But France's willingness to sacrifice Northern Macedonia, which is now led by a pro-EU, reform-oriented government under Zoran Zaev, will be noted by all other leaders in this post-conflict region.

Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev in Skopje, Republic of North Macedonia, 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

Some will see it as justification for an alternate strategy that plays geopolitics with non-EU powers and deals with unresolved bilateral disputes outside the EU integration framework.

Why, for example,...