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?
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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.
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