Ten years on: The Berlin Process for the Western Balkans explained

DW (English)

The Berlin Process was launched in the German capital in 2014 with the aim of bringing Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia closer to the EU. What has been achieved?

Transcript

00:00The Western Balkans belong to Europe.

00:03This is Germany's foreign minister.

00:05Annalena Baerbock made this statement at the foreign minister's meeting in Berlin

00:10two weeks before the Berlin Process Summit,

00:13which is due to take place in the German capital on October 14.

00:17But what is the Berlin Process?

00:19Just over 10 years ago, in August 2014,

00:22the Berlin Process platform was set up in the German capital,

00:26with the aim of improving not only regional cooperation

00:30between the countries of the Western Balkans,

00:32Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia,

00:38but also their cooperation with the European Union.

00:41At the time, Angela Merkel was Chancellor of Germany.

00:45High-ranking representatives of all six Western Balkan countries

00:48attended the first Berlin Process Summit in 2014.

00:52Since then, the Berlin Process Summit has been held once a year in different European cities.

00:59The aim is to pave the way for these six countries to join the EU

01:03through economic development, social inclusion, security, meetings and agreements.

01:23So, how much progress has actually been made over the past decade?

01:36Some Western Balkan countries now recognise educational qualifications

01:41obtained in other Western Balkan countries, others don't.

01:45The processing of some goods has been accelerated

01:48at the border between some Western Balkan countries, but not others.

01:53The Central European Free Trade Agreement, or CEFTA,

01:57which covers the six Western Balkan countries and Moldova,

02:00has not yet been fully implemented.

02:02Amid rising tension between Kosovo and Serbia,

02:05Kosovo in 2023 imposed a ban on the import of Serbian products.

02:12Critics say that the Berlin Process has stalled

02:14because of dysfunctional bilateral relations.

02:18The Berlin Process has no accountability.

02:20The results are not that numerous.

02:23We have threatened freedom of movement in the region like we haven't had for years.

02:28Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo two years ago signed in Berlin

02:33that they will abolish their visa requirements.

02:35Two years later, nothing had happened.

02:38Meanwhile, Serbia has joined and behaves like a doorkeeper in some nightclub

02:43with not letting in people who are fighting for reconciliation

02:48and for regional solidarity,

02:51like just randomly putting people on lists and not allowing them to enter Serbia.

02:55All that needs to be addressed and the Berlin Process would be a format,

03:00but we don't see that happening.

03:02Shortly before the summit, Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti,

03:06lifted the ban on Serbian goods.

03:18In the run-up to the summit in Berlin on October 14,

03:27representatives of the six Western Balkan countries, the EU and Germany,

03:32will also discuss how to make progress together on key green issues,

03:36facilitate the free mobility of young people

03:39and perhaps find compromises that would help overcome ongoing tension in the region.

03:48For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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