Current:Home > MyKosovo-Serbia tension threatens the Balkan path to EU integration, the German foreign minister warns -WealthSpot
Kosovo-Serbia tension threatens the Balkan path to EU integration, the German foreign minister warns
View
Date:2025-04-24 23:58:28
TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister on Friday expressed the European Union’s deep concerns following the recent shootout between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and sent tensions soaring in the region.
Annalena Baerbock was in Tirana, Albania at a meeting of foreign ministers ahead of the Oct. 16 summit on the Berlin Process, an initiative from Germany and France to encourage six Western Balkans countries to keep working toward membership of the bloc.
The foreign ministers of the six countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are meeting with Baerbock, EU Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi and other senior officials from the bloc.
“The foundation for mobility in the region is security and safety,” said Baerbock before the start of the meeting, adding, “The tensions within the last days between Serbia and Kosovo are also endangering this Berlin Process.”
On Sept. 24, around 30 heavily armed Serb men first killed a Kosovar police officer and then set up barricades in northern Kosovo before launching an hours-long gun battle with Kosovo police.
Kosovo has accused Serbia of orchestrating the “act of aggression” against its former province, whose 2008 declaration of independence Belgrade doesn’t recognize. Serbia has denied this, saying that the group acted on their own.
The six Western Balkan countries are at different stages of integration into the bloc. In 2013, Croatia, also a Western Balkans country, became the EU’s newest member. Since then, progress has stalled and there is no clear timeline for membership.
Baerbock said that “the way towards the European Union (should be) faster and deeper ... (and) the Berlin process is so crucial” in promoting connectivity and cooperation in the region.
The EU has not deemed the remaining Western Balkan countries’ economies and political institutions ready for integration into the EU’s single market of borderless trade and Western democratic ideals.
The war in Ukraine has put integration of the Western Balkans high on the agenda as the EU works to reinvigorate its enlargement process. Ukraine is also seeking to join the bloc, along with Moldova and Georgia.
___
Follow Llazar Semini at https://twitter.com/lsemini
veryGood! (37257)
Related
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- Guardians tame Tigers to force winner-take-all ALDS Game 5
- Trump seizes on one block of a Colorado city to warn of migrant crime threat, even as crime dips
- Watch dad break down when Airman daughter returns home for his birthday after 3 years
- NHL in ASL returns, delivering American Sign Language analysis for Deaf community at Winter Classic
- Tigers ready to 'fight and claw' against Guardians in decisive Game 5 of ALDS
- Princess Kate makes surprise appearance with Prince William after finishing chemotherapy
- Chicago Fed president sees rates falling at gradual pace despite hot jobs, inflation
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Priscilla Presley’s Ex-Boyfriend Michael Edwards Denies Molesting Lisa Marie Presley When She Was 10
Ranking
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Polling Shows Pennsylvania Voters Are Divided on Fracking
- Security guard gets no additional jail time in man’s Detroit-area mall death
- How to Really Pronounce Florence Pugh's Last Name
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- One Tech Tip: Here’s what you need to do before and after your phone is stolen or lost
- Strong opposition delays vote on $1.5M settlement over deadly police shooting
- Why Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield say filming 'We Live in Time' was 'healing'
Recommendation
See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
Police seize $500,000 of fentanyl concealed in carne asada beef at California traffic stop
Anderson Cooper hit by debris during CNN's live Hurricane Milton coverage
Wholesale inflation remained cool last month in latest sign that price pressures are slowing
What were Tom Selleck's juicy final 'Blue Bloods' words in Reagan family
MoneyGram announces hack: Customer data such as Social Security numbers, bank accounts impacted
California pledged $500 million to help tenants preserve affordable housing. They didn’t get a dime.
Authorities continue to investigate container suspected of holding dynamite in Tennessee