European Council president urges member states to avoid ‘bilateralization' during enlargement process

By Nur Asena Erturk

European Council President Antonio Costa urged member states Wednesday to avoid the “bilateralization" of issues during the enlargement process.

"The Western Balkans’ place is at the heart of our European project…Enlargement is also the best geostrategic investment in our peace, security and stability," Costa told a joint news conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen following the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Brussels.

Costa stressed that the EU was "already the biggest economic partner of and an investor in the Western Balkans" and would remain "the most reliable partner in the future."

He noted that "some challenges persist and bilateral disputes and neighborhood dilemmas still need to be addressed" during the enlargement process.

"Bilateralization is not a fair way to deal with accession. We need to avoid (it), and I'm engaged personally in trying to overcome these bilateral problems," Costa added.

He emphasized that the enlargement was "a very important geopolitical investment, not only for the Western Balkans but also for the common interests of the 27 (EU) member states."

- EU ‘ready to end measures’ against Kosovo

Von der Leyen said the issues in Kosovo must be overcome before moving forward.

"So we stand ready to come with a negotiating framework. But for that, we need an invitation by the Council to form an opinion and to go to the first step.

But I want to re-emphasize that we stand ready. The same goes for the measures. We stand absolutely ready to end the measures (against Kosovo) here," she said, promising hard work to get unanimity from member states, since "it is important also for Kosovo to move forward."

Kosovo’s EU membership application has not yet been evaluated. After Georgia was granted EU candidate status in late 2023, Kosovo remained the only country that applied to the bloc but still did not receive candidate status.

Following tensions in the north of Kosovo throughout 2023, the EU imposed some punitive measures on the country, in particular, measures preventing it from benefiting from EU funds in several areas.

Leaders from the EU and Western Balkan nations met to focus on three key areas during the summit in Brussels: reviewing Western Balkan states' progress toward EU membership, discussing the EU's comprehensive support for the region, and strengthening regional cooperation.

The summit brought together the 27 EU member states and six Western Balkan nations -- Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Kosovo.