Pekevski: The EU will send the same message to the region – that we must meet many conditions

Analyst from North Macedonia, Sinisa Pekevski, tells Kosovo Online that he expects "deja vu" from tomorrow’s EU-Western Balkans Summit – the same messages that have continuously been sent to the Western Balkans: that there is a desire for the region to join the EU, but that it must first meet many conditions that are not written down anywhere and through which certain nations, as he assesses, are placed in a subordinate position.

"Once again, the pressure will be on Belgrade because we see that, through a hybrid approach within Serbian politics, they are trying to force the government and the president of Serbia to make certain concessions, and a tragedy is being exploited to undermine the authorities. Now I expect somewhat greater pressure on Pristina because it is not meeting conditions and is creating circumstances that could provoke some sort of conflict with Serbia," Pekevski says.

Regarding whether Belgrade and Pristina will be explicitly told at the summit what is expected of them in the dialogue process, Pekevski says there might be recommendations but notes that the real power lies in the hands of the United States.

“The administration is already changing, and this is happening at a stage where we don’t know what to expect. I anticipate that in January there will be more serious activities, during which much greater pressure will be placed on Pristina by Trump’s administration,” our interlocutor states.