Brussels thinks about the admission of the Balkan countries in the Union

One of the objectives of the President of the European Commission Juncker was the enlargement of the members of the European Union. The entry of new states has been stopped since 2015, when Croatia was admitted. Formerly in 2004 ten countries entered, most of the former Soviet bloc, the Baltic countries and Malta, while in 2007 it was the turn of Bulgaria and Romania. The Balkan countries, those coming from the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo, plus Albania, have long desired to join the Union and it must be said that geographically the proximity to Europe would justify these ambitions. However, only Serbia and Montenegro have opened negotiations with Brussels for admission, while other countries have, for now, fewer opportunities for entry into the Union. The intentions of the President of the commission and of the representative for the Union of foreign policy are to seek solutions for the entry of the Balkan countries in Europe, but, at the moment, the required requirements are not met. On the issue of fundamental rights these countries are still far from European standards and Brussels has required concrete reforms; also the contrasts between the Balkan countries for reasons of borders represent an important obstacle, as well as the great level of corruption and the very relevant presence of the underworld within the institutional life are arguments, which, at present block every possibility, if not will be solved. Within the European institutions the thought of inclusion is motivated by the desire to prevent a possible instability on the European borders, however there is no expectation of a general favor to the potential entry of new members. One of the reasons that most concern the opposites is the possibility that the Balkan countries, once they enter the European assembly, go to align themselves with the positions of the countries of Eastern Europe, characterized by deep Euroscepticism and with a very different behavior on fundamental rights. from western countries. The real risk could become that to be admitted to the Union would once again be countries that do not share the founding elements of the Union, but aspire to only improve their economic condition. Concretely there is a real risk that the European balances will be reversed in favor of the increasingly democratic vision of the Eastern countries, marked by the rejection of the division of common obligations, just look at the case of migration, together with the maintenance of a situation , currently privileged, of European contributions. The central point now is to ask whether the previous enlargement was positive or negative Europe and based on that reasoning for a further enlargement. The current situation of conflict with the states of the Višegrad group leads rather to a narrowing of Europe, than to an enlargement, which has not produced advantages for those states that were already members and for the very idea of ​​union that was has been proposed. On the other hand, an enlargement with the conditions with which the previous ones occurred does not seem to be indicated, since mechanisms for possible expulsions should be envisaged for those states that do not conform to the founding values ​​of Europe. The question is whether the Balkan states have become accustomed to democracy in the fullest sense of the term or, instead, are like the Eastern countries, which are still influenced by the communist regimes and express governments that tend to be illiberal. The risk is that it is the West, that is, the founding nucleus of Europe to have to adapt to a level of democracy lower than that of its own standards and that the Union, to widen numerically, has a compression of rights. If, on the one hand, the intention to increase the member countries is commendable precisely to try to widen the rights, on the other hand, it must be recognized that the countries of Eastern Europe, at the moment, represent a disappointment for the lack of evolution in democratic sense. Even if the road for the admission of the Balkan countries is still long, it is necessary to ponder well this eventuality and at least think of gradual entry forms, modulated over the long term, that can interrupt relations with those states, which, above all, in perspective, do not they will seem able to adapt to democratic processes that meet the required and expected standards.