The referendum scheduled to take place on June 23, when Great Britain will decide on whether to remain in the European Union, is an issue of major interest across the Continent, as the outcome of the vote is bound to have a strong impact on future relations between Queen Elizabeth’s kingdom and EU 27 Member Countries, as well as on the very future of the EU which as a result could be “re-founded” or “reformulated.” Countries of South-Eastern Europe, not yet within EU borders despite heading towards EU accession, are expected to register equally important repercussions.
The victory of the Brexit option will have to demonstrate whether the Britons’ decision to leave the EU will bring expected improvements even after the latest concessions to London granted by the European Council in response to specific requests by Prime Minister David Cameron, with the related conditions and demands, not to mention those already in force (such as not adhering to the Monetary union or to the Schengen agreement on the abolition of internal borders).
Moreover, Britain’s exit from the EU could strongly boost Eurosceptic drives
– that registered successful outcomes in the first round of the presidential elections in Austria – across other Member Countries
Indeed, Euroscepticism is present, although in varying degrees, in all other EU countries. At the same time, however, such an outcome could give renewed impetus to the EU’s efforts aimed at “re-organizing” the current political and economic system at internal level in order to make it more functional and more integrated, which would require a clear and convincing plan to transform the EU into a veritable “common home”, and not into a mere community of “neighbours” where the smallest and the newcomers do not feel at ease.In this delicate time in history – marked by the aftermath of the economic crisis, the recent migratory crisis, and by the fight against escalating Islamist terrorism – the consequences of Britain’s exit from the EU could be particularly severe in Countries of South-Eastern Europe. In the Balkan region – most of which is still outside EU borders – it is still hoped that the “European dream” will not be broken, especially not before EU accession. The political forces in power in the six Countries of the Western Balkan region (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the ex-Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia), although not yet part of the Union, are trying to make it clear to EU leaders that they are willing
To commit themselves to ensure that their States do not remain an isolated “ghetto” in the heart of Europe.
In the years after World War II these Countries went through a long and difficult period, marked by undemocratic regimes, without reforms of the economic and social system. After 1989 they experienced devastating civil wars between different ethnic groups and nationalities, with the controversial passage of state property in the hands of tycoons and local politicians, culminated in the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia …
Today all of these Countries are working towards EU membership, and thus the victory of the “Brexit option” would but encourage anti-European forces that oppose EU integration. In fact, how could these populations be convinced of the true benefits of EU membership when one of its “historic” members decides to abandon the “common home”? In all likelihood it would transmit feelings of failure in the European project, leading Balkan populations to draw distant from the EU. Such a scenario is unlikely to benefit the process of pacification, dialogue, reforms and modernization, which took off with great efforts in the Balkans.
