European Union (EU) enlargement will continue, according to political analyst Adnan Huskic, who pointed out that the member states are the ones who dictate the pace of this process.

Speaking in N1’s Novi dan programme, Huskic said that so far the enlargement process in the region did not yield results and that recent statements of French President Emmanuel Macron on the EU enlargement portray that situation.

“He gives more attention to the situation in the EU. France has certain aspirations when it comes to the UK leaving the EU because that would enable it for France to insist on the policies where the French would play a crucial role. Everything that is happening in the region, everything said about the enlargement itself…I think we are only collateral damage of the preparations for future talks on how the EU will look like in the future,” said Huskic.

However, he is convinced that the Union’s expansion will continue.

“I haven’t read anywhere that the enlargement to the Western Balkans is a problem, even for the Balkan audience. We have to work on that because the loss of that perspective will diminish every attempt to make thorough changes here,” said the analyst.

He went on to explain that the European Commission manages the enlargement process but It can only do as much as the member states allow it and regardless of who is the commissioner in charge of enlargement.

“No matter who is the person holding that post, the pace will be determined by what is the official stance of the member states. I believe that the statement of (European Commission President Jean-Claude) Juncker who said there will be no enlargement had harmed the Commission the most. I think that a policy which is quite sceptical about further EU enlargement has started to prevail,” added Huskic.