Opinion | In the Balkans, a Chance to Stabilize Europe – The New York Times

However, the United States and Europe are not the only players in the region. Russia has made it clear that it will interfere if its interests are threatened, especially when it comes to potential NATO membership. It has already done so, in a failed putsch in Montenegro in 2016. Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is making his presence felt in every state, and China is now one of the largest investors in the region, with ambitious plans to make the Balkans the main entry point into Europe of its One Belt, One Road initiative.

A resolute response is needed to counter these trends, but it will not prove easy. The European Union is suffering from accession fatigue. Some of its thorniest problems come from countries that have joined since 2004 — the longstanding border dispute between Croatia and Slovenia; Turkey’s presence in Cyprus; and, perhaps most significantly, the antidemocratic actions of Poland and Hungary. France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, said last month that there can be no further European accession until Europe reforms itself.

The vast majority of the Balkan region’s population wants close links with the West, particularly European Union membership. That is true even in relatively pro-Russia Belgrade. Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, was in Slobodan Milosevic’s government during the NATO bombings in 1999, yet he has pinned his entire legacy on his ambitions for Serbia’s integration into Europe. He and Albania’s prime minister, Edi Rama, have forged a strong relationship that has helped stabilize the region.

A bold regional initiative to create a Balkan economic union modeled on the laws of the European Union could take advantage of the people’s pro-Western ambitions. This has already been endorsed by the region’s leaders, particularly Mr. Vucic. Even an informal union would deliver tangible benefits to the estimated 18 million inhabitants of the region as well as Europe and the United States, and would ease the member states’ integration into the European Union.