The EU-Western Balkans summit in Sofia risks being a failure. Even though EU Member States agree on the contents of the declaration set to be adopted at the conclusion of the summit, on May 17, there is still disagreement on the part of countries that do not recognize Kosovo as an independent country.
Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain, one of the countries that refuse to acknowledge Kosovo’s independence, will participate in the EU leader’s dinner on the evening of May 16, but has yet to confirm his participation in the summit itself.
However, Bulgarian Minister for the EU Presidency, Lilyana Pavlova, seemed optimistic. During a press conference in Brussels, she declared:
I believe that in the end unity will prevail, in the name of unity, in spite of the differences that we have, for example the recognition of Kosovo. We have more general goals that we have to achieve, so I strongly hope that we will find a compromise option, so that everyone can participate, each in his own format, of course
Representatives from Kosovo have participated in similar summits before, but it seems that Catalonia’s aspirations of autonomy have caused hesitation to attend the summit on the Spanish PM’s part.
The summit in Sofia will not include any decisions regarding opening EU accession negotiations for any country. Its objective is merely to reaffirm the conclusions reached by EU Member States in the Brussels summit of March 22–23 concerning the strategy to be followed for the Western Balkans countries.
Participants are expected to adopt statements related to connectivity, security, and the fight against organized crime, and in favor of the rule of law. Bulgaria hopes to have specific memoranda on some of these topics.
The Sofia Summit is the main activity Bulgaria will organize during its six-month EU presidency.
