Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is in Munich, Germany, for the 61st Security Conference, participated today in the “EU Enlargement” panel alongside Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Hristijan Mickoski, Prime Minister of North Macedonia, and under the moderation of Majda Ruge, Senior Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
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Majda Ruge, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations:
I am Majda Ruge, a Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. Today we will discuss EU enlargement, which used to be a European project, but it seems to have become so popular that America is embracing it as well, especially as it flirts with the idea of having more than two and a half members, including parts of Panama. Certainly, the Trump administration and the EU are likely to have quite different expansion methodologies, so EU enlargement remains a topic on its own.
On a serious note, I feel that it is quite difficult to discuss enlargement today separated from what is happening in the United States and the position of the U.S. in the world. What does this mean for the EU and, consequently, for EU enlargement?
We have a great line of excellent speakers, starting with with Prime Minister Edi Rama of Albania. In fact, we have risen to a new level from last year’s main stage, with Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski of North Macedonia, and finally in line, but not least in importance, Marta Kos, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement.
I will start by posing a couple of questions to you, Commissioner Kos. And I hope that you gentlemen won’t mind going a couple of times to Commissioner Kos at the beginning so that we get her vision on enlargement and also how you intend to overcome some of the political and financial challenges that you will face. I do not think that in my lifetime, adult lifetime, Europe and its member states have faced greater risks on security and economy, and yet at the same time have been exposed and have faced so many simultaneous demands and expectations in terms of investing into competitiveness, stepping up rapidly on security and defense, providing security guarantees for Ukraine, delivering on China. And at the same time, we have a U.S. Vice President delivering remarks here attacking EU democracy. And so you would think that in this situation, the EU needs to focus on these challenges and kind of go smaller because it needs to maintain coherence and unity. Yet you and President of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen have both said that we need to accelerate the process. So why now? Why at this very moment do you think we need to accelerate enlargement, given what is going on in the world?
Commissioner Marta Kos: The enlargement today is not affecting just what the U.S. are doing. It is affected by geopolitics. And when my country, Slovenia, entered the EU, if I simplify it, it was quite easy in the sense of, if a country fulfills the criteria, it can get in.
Later, it became more difficult in the sense of the member states have to go deeper than we will enlarge. But today we have a specific situation. Then we have disruptive external forces who would like to see us fail.
So it is clear the priority, I wouldn’t speak about just the enlargement, it’s unification of Europe. That’s why it is getting more and more important. And again, when my country joined, mostly we have seen this through the economic glasses, but today we go with enlargement today. We somehow go back to the roots why the EU has been established. It has been established to preserve peace, freedom, security, prosperity.
Now we go back to security and to peace. And this is the most decisive element. But this is also the strength of the EU. You have mentioned security guarantees. The enlargement can be the most important political element of the security guarantees. And there is a reason why the countries would love to join European Union and not United States of America, if I go back to your beginning.
And it’s clear also that there are some trends from the north of Europe with the countries which are on the very high level of the rule of law, which are very much involved into the European economic area and are considering or reconsidering coming back.
Majda Ruge, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations: Thank you. We’ll go back to Prime Minister Rama on this US versus EU question later. Sorry, I will just kind of comeback one more time to the question of enlargement again. And I stress in this really extremely challenging moment, you have tweeted and Commissioner von der Leyen has basically spoke and stated similar message at the Munich Security Conference that we need to accelerate the process. Von der Leyen has spoken about moving mountains.
And you mentioned accelerated but still merit-based process. It seems to be contradiction in terms, accelerated yet still merit-based, especially when we’re talking about countries like Ukraine that’s in the middle of the war, but also countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova or Serbia and Kosovo that are in the negotiation process. So could you unpack that a little bit? How do you balance the speed and merit? And what is really your vision for Ukraine? And what does acceleration mean? Do you mean late timelines or do you mean even sooner? Is that even possible?
Commissioner Kos: We are already accelerating the process, especially with Ukraine. We are working two to three times faster in the European Union, but we should distinguish between the technical part of the process and the political part of the process. When it’s about the technical one, we could, let’s say, finish with Montenegro and Albania until the end of 26 or 27. There is the political part, meaning that no steps or important steps can happen without the will of the member states. So this is where I see the possibilities today. For the technical part where I am in charge of, we can deliver a lot, not just for Ukraine, also for the Western Balkan countries. But we should really talk to, and we are talking to the member states what we can do.
It is merit-based, the technical part, but there is also the political will. And these geopolitics I was talking at the beginning about, it’s playing an important role. Some people see the discrepancy or paradox between geopolitics and merit-based. Or some people see the discrepancy between economic development and values. Why do we demand sticking to anti-corruption and so on? So in my opinion, we can do much more if we consider this situation seriously. And one remark to your first question, the EU can bring the candidate countries in the EU, not the United States of America.
Majda Ruge, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations: Thank you. I’ll come back with some follow-up questions later. I think the way I see you right now is like a CEO visionary that has to get the shareholders or member states on board. So we can talk about how you do that later. 26-27 seems like an extremely ambitious timeline for Albania joining the EU. Do you think that’s feasible? You have opened two clusters now, that is seven chapters. You’ve moved now, obviously, faster than Serbia has. They’ve been stuck since 2021. We’re not opening anything new.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Do you think that’s feasible? Well, what I know is that when we started this process, my hairs were all black. And my beard was much more trimmed. But being a big fan of Netflix, I’d say that after what I saw in these two days under this roof, which was amazing, Netflix could do two series, one about EU, one about US.
The one about EU would be a patient with 27 doctors and they were 28, by the way, but one got crazy and left the hospital. And US would be one sheriff show. So I think what is happening is really a great, great thing, at least as I see it from that part of Europe that is not EU.
So we are EU without U. And we see things a bit differently. It’s a great, great thing that happened. Europe needed to be shaken in a way that its sleep would go lost for some time. And now let’s see what will come out of that. And going back to your question, I think that the European Union has to make its mind about what’s going on, because it has changed in terms of attitude towards us.
And it has changed in terms of speed towards rapprochement with the Western Balkans. But what is happening is showing that it has changed too slow and too little. And we can talk about merit-based all day long, but I think it’s time to make a very fast and clear-cut separation. Merit-based should be for only one thing, the right to vote in the European Council. It can’t be about, merit-based can’t be about bringing all the non-EU countries in the single market. Merit-based can’t be about bringing all non-EU countries in the whole operation.
Majda Ruge, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations: What are you saying exactly, that there shouldn’t be a criterion on sort of legislative alignment, et cetera, for the EU single market, or?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: I think this can be completely now speeded up and can be much more about how to bring that part of Europe, which is not the European Union, much closer to a different way the continent think about itself, because when we think about the continent as a whole, without Russia, we are 700 million. So it’s a huge market. And the European Union has to do something about it in the sense that what is out of the European Union cannot be up for grab for everyone else, but for the European Union.
This is what I mean. And the Western Balkans should be seen like the tech park of Europe in the sense of it’s where a lot of things can happen, like a lot of things happened in Poland, in Czech Republic, in Slovakia and other countries, when the Western companies went there, invested a lot, brought a lot of dividend back in the European Union and helped these countries to go up in a very, very impressive speed. So this is what I’m saying.
There is a lot to change. Europe is not me saying, you know, everyone says it. Mario Draghi made a damning report that Europe has to change or it will die. So it’s about competitiveness, it’s about getting out there with a new strength. And it’s about not trying to respond to ourselves, to be just self-referential, to think that we have a divine decree for keeping the moral high ground and all the other are morally suspect. Because I, for example, we in the Western Balkans are morally suspect. But to be much more capable to adopt to the new challenges. So I saw a lot of victims today, yesterday, the day before yesterday, a lot of people feeling like, you know, something went terribly wrong, but it’s not true. It’s not true.
It’s a great opportunity to wake up and to run and to take back what has been lost in so many years of so much regulation, of so much talks and of so far less actions.
Majda Ruge, Senior Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations: So you merged both the EU internal reform competitiveness and sort of what you’re arguing for is a quicker accession to the single market up with the Western Balkans
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Not only Western Balkans, everyone.
Everyone in the continent, all the EPC, the European political community should become now the new platform and the European Union should invest on a lot of thoughts, a lot of its energies on the EPC and Europe as such should become a very, very different continent based on first and foremost, giving to everyone new opportunities to grow economically and to be in a better place. Otherwise, it will be impossible.
Majda Ruge: Commissioner Kos, I wanted to ask you, is the EU ready because Bulgaria has said that this is an EU issue, the proposal for the entry into force when North Macedonia joins the EU. It seems reasonable. Is the EU ready to negotiate on this?
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement:Bulgaria and North Macedonia, we are already discussing this matter, and we have offered assistance if necessary to negotiate. It is never ideal when bilateral issues get in the way, but this happens from time to time, and I understand the frustration. The new dynamic in the enlargement process came from the war in Ukraine, or even, if I look back a bit further, from Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia’s desire to choose Europe and not Russia. Unfortunately, we will always have to deal with bilateral issues, but my vision is that if possible, we will help you resolve this outside of the enlargement process, which is not easy. Earlier, I was talking about the role of member states in the entire process, but I think the time has come for us to move forward not just with North Macedonia. It’s time to move forward with Bosnia as well, it’s time to move forward with the dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina, when if not now, when it is so clear? And whatever way we approach this enlargement and unification process of Europe, we must never forget to answer the question why? Not just because the candidate countries want to become part of ours, but because we want them to be part of the EU, and for that, we can pursue peace and security.
Majda Ruge: Member states, since we are talking about interference, blockages, and so on, is part of my initial question, how do you manage to convince the member states of your vision, which is very ambitious, and if we are talking about 2026-2027 for Albania and Montenegro? We are facing a possible trade war with the U.S., which could reduce GDP by up to 2.5%, and we need to increase defense spending. Chancellor Scholz spoke yesterday about aid for Ukraine; however, when speaking with leaders of member states, they say it is impossible to find funds for defense. Kos talks about the financial framework for Ukraine, there are 186 billion, with a total of 200 billion. How will we find them, how will we convince the member states to agree financially?
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement:We do not yet have an idea of what the financial framework will be, but it is not about money here, while the EU has been the largest contributor to Ukraine, twice as much as the U.S. With 140 billion already calculated from the EU member states. We can do it if we stay together. We also have the opportunity to be part of peace talks and we are already engaged in reconstruction. Three key points for Ukraine were discussed: first, security guarantees. I was saying earlier that enlargement is a political element of this; second, reconstruction, we are already doing that; and third, the membership process, we are already doing that. Thus, we are already accomplishing much more. Here in Munich, most of the discussions are focused on military respect.
Majda Ruge: So, a border with Russia where the U.S. says it will not give a security guarantee. This is a huge challenge.
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement:We know this and we are working on it. The EU has been able to find solutions to unimaginable problems in the past, and perhaps we needed this push. I hear all the time that we need to ask ourselves what we can do on our own, regardless of what others do. However, I understand, having an opinion when you have 27 members or making a decision when only one person makes the decision, you know which is more difficult.
Majda Ruge: I will ask all three of you the same question, and I’m curious how you see it. The U.S. has traditionally been very supportive of EU enlargement, and in fact, most American policies and instruments have often complemented the enlargement process and generally promoted the values and rules of the EU. We are seeing a real shift in the Trump administration; USAID has canceled $1.6 billion in funds, most of which supported projects aimed at achieving EU objectives. Also, there’s this heavy focus, strong power, sanctions to prevent the degradation of Bosnia by Dodik or the fight against money laundering and corruption. If this is reversed, which is a possibility, do you think it will be a problem for enlargement? Do you think it will be a problem for your countries to meet the criteria, and maybe Commissioner, I would ask you, what will you do?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: What I see is that ever since you started dealing with the Balkans, the questions are very long, and I don’t know now which part of your question I should answer, because there were many questions within your question, but I will try.
First, I think there is a paradox that seems no one is thinking about. There is a rush to invest in defense, to increase defense standards, to do more for defense, but what is the answer? While other powers are investing in defense, they also have quite reasonable economic growth rates, while Europe doesn’t have them. So, where will Europe find the money to do all this increase in defense investments, and I have never heard anything more traumatic, more shocking, and more absurd than we should leave education, healthcare, and the rest aside because now our priority is to survive. If the answer to having more investments, more military power is to turn into a continent of ignorance, then I think we are worth nothing and it would be better for someone to come and invade us. Albania has always been ready to be invaded by Americans or Europeans. The problem is that no one will invade us.
Majda Ruge: However, you are doubling defense spending.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: No one will invade us. And if they invade us, we send them to Montenegro to enjoy some sunshine. So the second point relates to the first one. Europe needs to think in two directions. Yes, stronger militarily, but also stronger economically. And stronger in all the challenges related to the future. America invented artificial intelligence. China copied it, Europe, without having it, regulated it. How will we compete for heaven’s sake? And then we are in this process. It is clear that Europe has opened discussions, and thank God, President Von der Leyen is taking it personally to initiate the regulation, may she be lucky with this, but in the meantime, they tell us “regulate, draft the regulation, the regulation.” How will this go forward? It is a kind of inertia.
From my experience, I have known two EUs, the one everyone knows, the EU of leaders, of big discussions, sometimes of great debates, sometimes even of neurotic big processes, and another European Union that works like a Swiss clock 24/7. 30, 40 thousand people who produce every day I don’t know how many regulations. So, there is no war, no crisis, no climate change or nuclear threat that changes the way this system works like a Swiss clock. Drafting regulations…
Majda Ruge: What do you mean by that?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: What do I mean? Ask the business community in Germany to tell you how difficult it is today to open a bank account in Europe. A bank account for heaven’s sake has become more complicated than buying a house, and there are so many other things just like this.
And the last thing I would like to say is that this enlargement has always been treated like a kind of generosity, a kind vision of the wealthiest of the continent towards the poorest, but I’m telling you that today the EU needs us more than we need them. Believe me on this, and when I say we, I’m not just talking about the Western Balkans but for all those countries that are still not part of this union.
Why? Don’t take it as arrogance. Because we are used to surviving, we are survivors, whatever happens, we will remain here. That’s why we fight with the Greeks over who is the oldest in the continent because we’ve seen so many come and go. The problem is that if the EU wants to get out of all these crises, it must unite with Europe. And as Dr. Kissinger said, America without Europe is simply an island. Europe without America is a peninsula. So, that island and this peninsula need to be together, but for the sheriff on that island to take the EU seriously, the EU must become stronger, and numbers matter to the sheriff. So, we must present ourselves at the sheriff’s door as a 700 million-strong market, otherwise, we are destined to end up like the priests in Constantinople, who when the walls were falling, had a very important discussion about the sex of angels.
Majda Ruge: Thank you, Prime Minister Rama. The message is clear. A question for Commissioner Kos: Are you concerned about the impact of EU enlargement, especially on democracy and the rule of law? Specifically, the impact of changes in the U.S. approach, and what about good governance and so on?
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations: No, I’m not afraid of. I’m very happy that Albania will still become a member, despite the criticisms I’ve already heard about the EU.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: No, I don’t accept this because we are still in love with the EU, while the EU members are not in love with the EU. We are in love with the EU. You must get us because we bring love.
Majda Ruge: What do you mean by that?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: The EU is the best thing that could happen to people.
Commissioner Kos: Thank you. And I truly believe this. Everything you are asking for is in Article 2 of the EU Treaty. It’s about our rights, human rights, minority rights, and I could go on endlessly about this. So, I strongly believe that we are really strong. Seeking membership is optional. You can take a status, obligations, and a commitment.
My commitment is also to help candidate countries, and I would love for the EU to be successful in having Albania, Montenegro, or any other country reach the finish line with success in the membership process. The EU is changing within itself. We are reviewing before enlargement to see what needs to be changed within the EU so that we can manage this family when newcomers arrive. I was talking about security. You, and candidate countries, are already contributing to Europe’s security. You are contributing to our competitiveness. This gradual integration that gives you the opportunity to be part of the single market is already happening, and in Albania, things are moving well. Congratulations. I want to see even more results, and naturally, I am not as critical when talking about bilateral levels. However, I look forward to coming to Tirana. I might even swim in the sea if you say that’s necessary to have good relations with the EU.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Yes, because you’ve been Olympic champions in swimming. It’s not hard for you. The problem is how to make Brussels swim.
Hello, Prime Minister Rama. She is an experienced Bosnian and knows very well how to limit the length of a question, but the question itself remains very important. Thank you for the information, discussions, and positions on EU enlargement. I think that absolutely, this is the way the EU should integrate. When it comes to NATO, we have at least 3 out of the 6 Western Balkan members as members, and others are applying and preparing. How do you think we can move forward with the security structure in these countries? I will refer to Jean-Claude Juncker in a bit, who proposed the idea of partial membership. What do you think about this or the proposal to have a gradual approach, combining what you said—both the political and strategic need, as well as the challenges based on merit, where we can also talk about the situation in Bosnia and other countries. How do we resolve this urgency versus the clarity and correctness of integration?
Prime Minister Edi Rama: I want to summarize, since time is running out, by combining both questions, and say that Donald Trump’s choice is the most generous act of God towards the European Union, to give Europe a great opportunity to wake up, and Europe must, first and foremost, not be so self-referential. I totally agree with Marta that values, principles, what unites member states, must remain such. However, these should not be conditions for having friends in this world. I had a debate yesterday with a German friend on a panel, when he said that the German and French Foreign Ministers went to Syria and told the Syrians, “If you do this and that, we could be friends.” No. We need to learn to be friends with others, even if they may have different values. Even if they have different ways, different opinions on how life should be lived. The last thing I want to say is that Europe needs to think both about strength and about competitiveness. If we are not able to compete economically, we won’t be able to do anything else. And at this point, the Western Balkans is a land of opportunities. For this European Union, to see investment horizons and for all technology companies not to leave Europe, since we can’t invest because it is over-regulated, but to come to the Western Balkans. To go to other parts of the continent and bring their dividends home instead of leaving money outside the continent.
Majda Ruge: Commissioner Kos, I will ask you just one question since we don’t have time to answer more. What is your sense of a realistic timeline for the Western Balkans to become part of the EU, as well as for Ukraine?
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations: I cannot speak about this, as there are differences between countries in the Western Balkans. During my mandate, we may bring two, perhaps three countries to the finish line of the membership process, which means closing all negotiation chapters. One comment I would like to make is that for some of the Western Balkan countries, it has been easier to become NATO members than EU members, whereas now we have the opposite situation with Ukraine and other countries. Why is this happening?
Majda Ruge: Which two of them might you bring, and what are the timelines?
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations: Based on the merit principle, Albania and Montenegro are already at the forefront, but we can continue moving forward with North Macedonia, which could progress very quickly.
Majda Ruge: Will you stick to the 2026-2027 timeline?
Marta Kos, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations: This is for Montenegro and Albania.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: The only new name we could accept is the United States or Canada.