Plenković: Serbia On The Verge Of Civil War

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković today at the Bled Strategic Forum expressed a certain skepticism that the European Union would expand by 2030, noting that North Macedonia is blocked, Serbia is “on the verge of civil war,” and Bosnia and Herzegovina is under constant threat of secessionism.

The Croatian Prime Minister took part in the 20th edition of the forum in Bled on the panel “Bled Pledge: Dream or Reality?” together with Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos.

The Bled Pledge refers to a decision made at the 2023 forum setting the goal that the EU and Western Balkan countries should be ready for enlargement by 2030.

That things are not moving in that direction was shown earlier by the Slovenian Prime Minister’s statement for Radiotelevizija Slovenija. Golob said that only the Prime Ministers of Albania and Montenegro were deliberately invited to Bled to send the message that “accession will first be possible for those who seriously implement reforms.”

“The ten richest states finance 80 percent of the budget”
Plenković said on the panel that enlargement, which he strongly supports, had gained new momentum after the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, but that he was “not so sure” it was a priority among EU member states.

He questioned whether the larger members would admit new smaller countries with a “modest” contribution to the EU budget but with equal voting rights. “The ten richest states finance 80 percent of the budget,” he reminded. He called for “realism,” saying that there will be no enlargement without the candidate states meeting criteria and without a favorable political moment.

“Currently we have a blocked North Macedonia, Serbia with more than two years of the biggest, strongest and most serious internal unrest and protests, on the verge of civil war, and Bosnia and Herzegovina where Milorad Dodik repeatedly threatens secession of Republika Srpska,” the Prime Minister continued.

“We pretended that Banjska didn’t happen”

Later, in a statement to journalists, Plenković clarified his comment about “civil war,” saying that in Serbia, after the tragic events — the mass shooting in a Belgrade school and the collapse of a canopy in Novi Sad — an atmosphere was created where protests have been going on for more than two years, which is “a situation that is not usual.”

The aim of his remark on the panel, he said, was to give the audience, who “do not follow all the details” of the situation in Serbia, “a sense of how it all looks, especially in recent months.” “Don’t think I am advocating such a scenario, I am only coldly describing,” he stressed.

On the panel, Plenković also mentioned the Banjska case, the clash between Kosovo police and heavily armed Serbs near the monastery of the same name in September 2023, which passed “without serious statements or articulation from anyone in the EU.” “We pretended it didn’t happen,” he warned.

Plenković therefore called for “sobriety” regarding enlargement and changes in the global context, warning that third actors will become increasingly influential in candidate countries the longer they remain outside the European Union./Index.hr/