The first day of the Budapest Balkans Forum (BBF) ended with a high-level panel discussion titled, “Bridging the Divide: The Western Balkans as the EU and NATO’s Strategic Security Anchor”. The panelists included Péter Sztáray, State Secretary for Security Policy and Energy Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary, Frano Matušić, State Secretary for Political Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, and Ivica Bocevski, former Special Representative of the Government to the Hungarian Presidency with the Council of the European Union of the Republic of North Macedonia. The discussion was moderated by István Balogh, Hungary’s Permanent Representative to NATO and Ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary.
State Secretary Péter Sztáray began the discussion by highlighting the importance of the Western Balkans for the stability and economic wellbeing of both the EU and NATO. When there is instability in the region, both are negatively impacted. He highlighted that this is why it is such a positive development that the Western Balkan countries are now looking to join the organizations, but much has been lost in conditionality, which has stalled the process. Former Special Representative Ivica Bocevski pointed to the hypocrisies of the EU accession process. His country, North Macedonia, has been an EU candidate country since before Montenegro existed as an independent state. And the Western Balkan countries have already demonstrated their value to the EU, especially during the great migration crisis. The southern border of North Macedonia, for example, was a key frontline against the flow of migrants to the EU and cooperated with EU countries like Hungary.
Regarding the influence of external actors in the Western Balkans, State Secretary Frano Matušić emphasized the importance of the EU in the region and noted that its importance is only growing. During the war in Ukraine, for example, energy has been weaponized, and EU members like Croatia stepped in to help Western Balkan states diversify away from Russian energy and maintain normal functioning in their countries. Ivica Bocevski noted that he does not see any other foreign power besides the EU taking hold in the region, but a lack of engagement will increase frustration, disappointment, and EU skepticism. The strategic thinking of the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU last year was a step in the right direction and was greatly appreciated by the candidate countries.
According to Péter Sztáray, the future European security architecture will be a complex system of EU and NATO institutions and external partner countries like the Western Balkans. Regarding future security cooperation, Frano Matušić reflected on the need to harmonize visa policy to stem illegal migration, while Ivica Bocevski focused on data sharing, since so much of the data collected on migrants is stored on North Macedonian, Serbian, and other servers that are never shared with the EU or other countries.
István Balogh ended the discussion by asking the panelists about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the Western Balkans. Péter Sztáray remarked that the war brought new momentum to EU enlargement but cast a shadow on the accession process of the Western Balkan countries, since the accession of countries like Ukraine and Moldova are now being prioritized over their own. Frano Matušić and Ivica Bocevski both emphasized that accession should be merit-based, and the focus should remain on the Western Balkans first and foremost.