On 3 October the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Boyko Borissov, of Greece, Alexis Tsipras and of Romania, Mihai Tudose and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, discussed, in the Bulgarian port town of Varna, common positions regarding the future of the Balkans. The meeting fits into Sofia’s ambitious Balkan policy, marked, of late, by a series of events.

Less than one month ago Bulgaria’s Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski signed, with his Greek counterpart Hristos Spirdzis, a memorandum on extending the Bulgaria-Greece transport corridor project, while Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova held talks with her counterparts from Greece, Giorgos Stathakis and Serbia - Alexandar Antic, on regional gas projects, as part of the so-called Vertical Gas Corridor linking Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. Besides the quadrilateral summit, again on 3 October and again in Varna, a joint sitting took place of the cabinets of Bulgaria and Romania. Today and tomorrow, Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva is in Thessaloniki to attend a quadrilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Greece, Albania and Macedonia. This string of events carries special meaning in view of Bulgaria’s rotating presidency of the Council of the EU as of 1 January, 2018, which, among other things, envisages a Balkan summit.

After yesterday’s discussions in Varna, the participants announced they had come to an agreement for equitable cooperation among the four countries, in the interest of prosperity and stability in the Balkans. Greek PM Alexis Tsipras commented that successful interaction in power generation, transport and crisis management in the sphere of security can change the region’s prospects, imbuing it with a new kind of energy. The Prime Minister of Romania Mihai Tudosestated that, especially in energy and infrastructure projects, the four countries will have to act as one. It was agreed that Bulgaria, Greece and Romania must work together towards bringing the prospect of Serbia’s accession to the EU loser.

President Vucic expressed gratitude for this support, but used the Varna meeting as a rostrum to state Belgrade’s stand that, regarding the problem of independence for the Spanish province of Catalonia, the EC is applying standards different to the standards applied with regard to the independence of Kosovo. Belgrade’s dialogue with Pristina is a fundamental EC requirement for Serbia’s accession to the EU and Vucic’s reproach lent the meeting a singular political hue. We are yet to see, and soon, whether this won’t be an impediment in the efforts aimed at the country’s EU membership.

Unlike other Balkan meetings, the one that took place in Varna yesterday did not end with the signing of any agreements, and in this sense it can be said to have been informal. Yet this does not diminish its importance because, as PM Borissov commented, the participants in it sent out a message that there are no great countries in the Balkans, that all countries are equal and relations will develop in such a way as to make the region a model of peace, stability and prosperity.

English version: Milena Daynova