Munich Security Conference ends with message of hope for EU expansion

Munich [Germany], February 17: The Munich Security Conference drew to a close on Sunday with a promising message for EU candidate countries Albania and Montenegro.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said Albania and Montenegro are the "front-runners" among the current candidates for EU accession and that their ongoing negotiations could be concluded by the end of 2026 or 2027.
She added that North Macedonia could also be "very, very quickly on a good path." Kos has been an EU commissioner since last year and emphasized that she could bring two to three accession negotiations to a conclusion by the end of her term. However, an end to negotiations would not yet mean that these countries could actually join the European Union. A prerequisite for this is that all EU countries agree to and then ratify the accession treaties negotiated by the European Commission.
Grey-haired Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama was cautiously optimistic about the announcement, noting that at the beginning of the process his locks were black. His North Macedonian counterpart Hristijan Mickoski also expressed strong criticism of the lengthy accession negotiations. He said he hoped other countries wanting to join the EU wouldn't have the same experience as his country.
North Macedonia has been an official candidate for EU accession since 2005, Montenegro since 2010 and Albania since 2014. Kos said she could understand the disappointment over the sometimes lengthy negotiations. "We are already accelerating the process, especially with Ukraine. We are working in the European Union two to three times faster, but we should distinguish between the technical part of the process and the political part," she emphasized.
Politically, it remains the case that no important steps can be implemented without the will of the member states, she added.
A lecture by US Vice President JD Vance on the first day of the conference remained a dominant topic of debate throughout the weekend.
In his speech, Vance sharply criticized European allies, accusing them of restricting freedom of expression and endangering democracy.
Among other things, he criticized the exclusion of the far-right Alliance for Germany (AfD) and the populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) from the security conference and generally opposed the exclusion of parties. Representatives of the German government rejected this.
Speaking to the German Stern magazine, US historian Timothy Snyder said Vance's speech was one "of an imperialist who wants to undermine the rule of law in Germany and the entire EU," and urged Europeans to be much more proactive.
"There is a European habit of waiting to see what the Americans will do, or what the Russians will do. Europe urgently needs to overcome this," Snyder said in comments published by Stern on Sunday.
The conference in the Bavarian capital ended with an emotional send-off for outgoing head Christoph Heusgen.
Heusgen, 69, a long-term adviser to former German chancellor Angela Merkel, showed visible emotion as he handed over to former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg in the Bayerischer Hof hotel to applause from the participants.
Source: Qatar Tribune