Day: January 21, 2022
What Macron meant to say
President Macron of France said Wednesday that the countries of the Western Balkans should be given a clear perspective on joining the EU within a reasonable timeframe. France has been reluctant on enlargement. So the press in the countries concerned has highlighted the statement and wondered what it means.
My guess is less than many might hope. Macron omitted the when, where, and how.
Macron also underlined on the same day that European culture evolved through Christianity:
But we come from Ancient Greece to the Roman Empire, from Christianity to the Renaissance and to the Enlightenment, heirs of a singular way of envisaging the human adventure.
https://presidence-francaise.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/french-president-emmanuel-macron-s-speech-at-the-european-parliament-strasbourg-19-january-2022/
He makes no mention of Europe’s considerable debt to the Islamic world. That casts a shadow on any hope Macron’s statement applies to the three Muslim-majority countries of the Western Balkans: Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. All three are already laggards in adoption of the acquis communautaire compared to Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
Macron could have signalled openness to their EU accession. Kosovo has fulfilled the hundred or so requirements the EU levied as preconditions for the visa waiver. France has blocked it, making Kosovars the only Balkanites who need visas to enter the EU. Albania is awaiting a date to start its accession negotiations. Macron might have promised that. He didn’t.
My guess is that the excitement over Macron’s “opening” to the Western Balkans is unjustified. If France does anything to fulfill Macron’s promise, it will accelerate Serbia’s accession and perhaps Montenegro’s. They are both Christian-majority. This would be little more than continuation of longstanding French policy, which favors Belgrade’s interests over those of other Western Balkan countries. Liberté, égalité, fraternité for Christians is what Macron meant to say.
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Stevenson’s army, January 21
– WSJ says US allows Baltics to transfer arms to Ukraine.
– FT says Taliban threatens Pakistan.
– Oath Keepers were armed for insurrection.
– Fred Kaplan analyzes Biden’s Ukraine gaffe.
– NYT says US special forces bombed a dam in Syria on “no hit” list. Senior officials had denied attack.
– In FA, SAIS prof Hal Brands says US is overstretched militarily.
– More on CIA assessment of Havana Syndrome.
– China demands end to foreign FONOPs.
On the 80the anniversary of the Wannsee conference,NYT remembers. I’ve been to the place where the meeting occurred. Here are the minutes of the meeting.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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