Kacarska: With Kos' appointment, the Western Balkans will not be left out of the EU's focus

Simonida Kacarska, director of the European Policy Institute from Skopje, says that there was a debate within the European Commission over whether the new Commissioner for Enlargement would focus more on Ukraine or the Western Balkans, and that the appointment of Marta Kos sends a message that the region will not be left out of the Union's focus.

"The debate within the European Commission was whether the proposed new commissioner would focus more on Ukraine or the Western Balkans. With the nomination of Slovenian Marta Kos, we have a likelihood that the Western Balkans will not be excluded from the focus because, of course, Ukraine holds the greatest political significance," Kacarska tells Kosovo Online.

She adds that the European Commissioner would likely demand "different behavior" from the countries in the region regarding the fulfillment of their obligations.

"We are not perfect," Kacarska emphasizes.

She stresses that the Western Balkan countries will expect much more understanding on certain bilateral issues.

"They will probably get that, but they cannot expect to have more influence than Ukraine and Moldova, which are the primary interest of the Union in the coming period," Kacarska emphasizes.

She assesses that it is good news for the region that someone "from the neighborhood" will lead the EU enlargement portfolio, but notes that past experience shows that much larger and more important countries decide on enlargement.

"The good news for us is that she knows the region. It would probably be better news if she came from a larger and more important country. Many of us working on this topic say that the most successful EU enlargement occurred when the Commissioner for Enlargement was a German. So, from that aspect, Slovenia does not carry the weight that larger countries do, but on the other hand, she will have more knowledge of the region. If there is strictness, it should not be seen as a drawback; on the contrary, many of these countries would likely benefit from being evaluated by higher standards," Kacarska concluded.