And especially over the past the 78 or 10 years we have of the climb better visible decline in all of these crew so the market is not functioning efficiently according to. The Competitive Committee of you know we have them across to decline very visible democracy decline. We have not always but we have problems with protection of minorities. In some places or at least some kind of problem with between majority and minority but the major problem is the will of law we simply not only serbia but everywhere in the western balkans have a judiciary and Public Prosecutors which are under the heavy influence of politicians now i know that you specifically identify state capture that is the misuse of state funds for private and political benefit as they may. Obstacle to your europeanization but some would say that this kind of france seeking and selfserving behavior could be found within the court ear itself in countries like cyprus or italy do you think youre of the old to europe has itself waived up to the standards of the europeanization that it tries to hold others to you can also have mentioned the paul or. 400 right over the past several years right the problem with the origin of the problem is that the European Union these not able to solve this problem weve been utopian you know with these crimes because hungary Czech Republic poland are the members of the European Union right now and you have stated capture there you also found the theater nation of other very important create the area to have established member theyre not able to solve this there of course then they are not able to solve this in the western balkans when this is running much much larger scale. In this country its always been a bit counter to many observers that a former soviet satellites like bulgaria romania poland became members of the European Union before the constituent parts of former and on the line yugoslavia having looked at how those various countries measure against the yardstick are you sure that its always been a function of janey and democratic or Economic Development rather than lets say geo political expediency i would say that is one of the geopolitics in this process and of course the European Union wants to bring to take in these countries who have some kind of shields. Other countries especially russia and maybe some some other countries. I think the. In 1809 when the berlin wall came down i think that the during the ninetys and even after 2000 the majority the prevalent mood in discounted is was that they want to join european. Paul and sort of example i mean this goes without saying just like paul rudd so they wanted to join European Union more than anything else because they want to solve some kind of protection from russia you know this is all that matters its only about the countries wanting to join i mean obviously much of Eastern Europe and that i wanted to join not only because of the quality of Democratic Institutions but i assume also because of the quality of life and economic benefits but speaking about poland you mentioned that there has been a deterioration in democratic progress across eastern until within 5 Cross Western europe lately and. You know the popular narrative in the west is that in countries where russia is present thats understandable because russia is supporting autocratic tendencies etc but poland is very notable. Example contrary to die theory because its been staunchly and russian for a number here is and yet as we all know theres been a backsliding on democracy how do you explain it and isnt it perhaps isnt it perhaps an indication that the way people thought about democratization. 20 years ago it is not accurate its far more complex than perhaps violence lay near them i would say i would explain the polish case very similar to the one gettin case and some cases in the western balkans all has to do with the way the countries were democrat and what happened with the distribution of resources basic resources i think that in in polish case and other cases i mention the 1st couple of decades some of them. Improving of material wealth or whatever system but the genuinely these these people they saw the whole process as unjust or unsafe there is a polish origin political scientists. Who mention this in 1901 so even the process of democratization europeanization is not fair so that everybody stand to benefit dogs who are the losers they will get back and they will the strike back so i think this is whats happening in this is whats happened whats happening im going to this whats happening in serbia and some western balkan balkan countries have selfawareness and germany and these are men who do you know thats right so and now theyre coming to be a new a new and the enlargement process this self i think that the european officials dont really recognize that yet so they do they support i mean when it comes to the balkan countries they support the balkan out of crypts they simply play north tension to whats happening today and i think this is what is genuinely putting the whole thing in danger let me just mention one thing for example in a couple of years back in serbia. Group of masked people tore down several hacked of of houses and buildings in the downtown of belgrade. 3 years on we have no idea what happened who did that the Public Prosecutor is not saying and. Right and the European Union is not saying dont do such or. Such or huge violation of the rule of law now this is the most interesting part that this could have never been told that the german in berlin this could have never been tolerated yes european officials mentioned this at no point while at this point here are not officially a member of the european every month they have an excuse of not interfering in into their fares all obey today they can into the theater because there are certain chapters which set certain standards that the aspiring countries has to fulfill and those shots are 22242324 its long been believed that the enlargement policy has dual objectives democratizing Eastern European countries as well as fulfilling the e. U. Foreign policy agenda one element of which is to keep russia at bay to keep its influence minimized and yet i get it from your writing that it its not always working as intended and sometimes they say and to russians trick is actually contributing to the rise of autocratic leaders and these toleration of the lack of the rule of law that you mention how does it work. In some confidence you will find the other objective about having a country that look at thighs and then at the same time be. Serving as a shield against russia is work for sample taken example montenegro despite very massive population support Popular Support for russia the monthly need again leaders somehow managed to get the government and you go into nato and you know induction of all democratic way are right but it doesnt really have to work so supporting out the krauts in the balkans could. Ends the way it did in one thing you dont solve it will it will become one day by. But the European Union needs all of the part of nato but it would be it could end up in a different way so one of some of these confidence could go closer to russia so serbia is one of this country which is needed here nor there in the foreseeable future it will surely never become part of nato but will go closer to russia we dont know that Public Service cause a part of. The same thing of mustard on their north mustard on the under the rule of nikola whoever skit was doing the same thing so and he was heavily supported by the european official i mean one of the foreign minister was even coming to his electoral rally a couple of days before the elections to give him pats on the back and they give him up a european supporter do i understand you correctly because i mean they became pickel a european narrative has that moscow supporting autocrats because they are more amenable to. The kremlin from the herion a. Essentially saying that brussels is guilty of the same charge that it supports leaders with finds more amenable or easier to deal with about it is for stability or for geopolitical purposes i would say its maybe not in this war but i would say if we see in the future that some balkan countries are driving away from european these asian union then going closer to russia one part of the responsibility will be with utopian the solutions so the whole process of a large meant i think have to be rethought if you will especially when it comes to its applicability how you are ply all these standards are you consistent double standards maybe someone thats i think what should be rethought 3rd as you mentioned is an interesting example because it tries to strike a balance between the e. U. And russia and there are multiple accusations that president which is has been is european power controlling of the media etc but he also appointed. The 1st openly gay Prime Minister which is a major progressive milestone for this country is serbia indeed more european that is then it has to be is it being europeanized or is it just trying to look at a part you know. Prime minister who is openly gay but thats all fake i mean they could terms of. Promoting European Values because the major thing these states capture extraction of publicly sources from private bad things and this is whats going on right now if a gay Prime Minister is not really putting be seen then ger the political elite these 5 with these and with many other things right as as long as extraction is untouched the state capture is untouched everything is acceptable and even the European Union is acceptable at the moment in this i think that the major thing that you have been officials have to understand the moment european officials seriously questions about extraction about state capture in the west and balk as they will get in the conflict and serious conflict with the latest well professor polish we have to take a short break well be back in just a few moments. Good food descriptions sound up to tell using even for the owners so how to choose this pet Food Industry is telling us what to feed our pets really more based on what they want to sell us then whats necessarily good for the pet turns out that food may not be a so for the best people believe we have animals that have you know diabetes in arthritis they have auto immune disorders allergies we are actually creating these problems its a huge epidemic of problems all of them i believe can be linked to very simple problem of diet and some dog owners so heartbreaking stories about their pets less treats the larger corporations are not very interested in proving or disproving the value of their food because theyre already making a 1000000000. 00 on it and theres no reason to do that research. I have concern about new technologies and i think society should and i try to help those gauged in those concerns. But we also should have concerns about doing nothing doing nothing as extraordinary risk you know world with some point 5000000000 people at a whole series of over ancient Technology Used to that are not necessarily suitable for a more. Welcome back to worlds apart in addition pile of h. Associate professor and the faculty of Political Science at the university of belgrade professor before the break we talked about how the large one is perceived outside the e. U. Lets now discuss about how its seen on the inside im sure youve seen this latest interview d in the economist magazine that french president emmanuelle mccraw gave and he firmly stated that there would be no further e. U. Enlargement until the membership procedures are formed do you take that as just photo sharing which is not entirely for him to mishear electron or do you think its a wider shot as far as the e. U. Neighborhood policy is concerned i think that the. French president actually expressed the idea which is pretty consistent with what weve been talking in the in the 1st part of the interview and this is that everybody sees that something is going wrong with the process of course what part of the problem is not only is not happening in the western balkans but part of the problem is with European Union itself because the union is undergoing pretty huge sure. Changes and i think that some things that he mentioned in this interview hall for a total revision of the whole approach to European Union rights for example one thing that i think is very important is that that is that there was a huge change in the u. S. And the u. S. Was a country which basically provided security for youve been the European Union russia no this country is now changing mr trump not. Other term this is 4 years of this change that will be applied and everybody will feel the consequences now this calls for reform of the of the position of the European Union in the world right now you have on your borders countries like russia you have chinese or some somebody there is terry k. 30 war in syria this is war ready close your door maybe we should think about already organisation a Security System and if we do this what kind of position the western balkans country should be. Going to understand well what i think if it was not only about the western balkans per se i mean he was speaking about that and the larger context accepting new members and we all know that he wasnt just you know putting ideas on the table france is actually blocking membership talks for any and north of the cydonia it has come up with its own system 7 step system of i think they call it a gradual association not even accession do you think there is any chance of that system being accepted by are they are people countries given that they all called statements a historic mistake do they have a choice not to i think its going to some version of this will be accepted because its a very nice way to have a cake and theyd still read so they know without saying no so he will say ok we are continuing our on our path of integrating more confidence but essential is going to be a prolonged or a long long way until we reach the 7 step right there with my beasts several decades right you could see immediately after they explicitly say as the european officials explicitly said no to the north macedonians in the binya what kind of problem it cause i mean so pretty basic people. The rule is dont say no explicitly just put it in some kind of. Very nice wording good that everybody wants something in that same interview a present across the thinking about the e. U. Neighborhood policy in terms of access to the e. U. Was quote absurd what else could the European Union offer a to this neighborhood if its not very remote. Prospect of joining them what else. You know i dont think that. There is anything else but some kind of hope of the song or a way that these countries will become you members if this is of the mood of the table i think that we can forget about any kind of neighboring policy so. Countries here want to call part of the media in the western balkans want to cooperate with them because there is some kind of. In the end of the tunnel theres a light that the light is not very d material i mean like you cannot feed of their life you cannot deny them to live i mean given the what you talk about extraction state extraction i mean from the point of view of relief thats. Im just going back to my previous thought so you have to give them some kind of hope and then you will have them as somebody who will cooperate with you if you shut this down this channel down and say look we are not you are not going to be members in any foreseeable future but lets try to be neighbors i dont think this would really help the plans that European Union has for itself because as i said one has to argue the current. E. U. Enlargement process is actually doing. Something hurting itself so the interest that the European Union has on the balkans is actually working on the long ground against European Union now the reason i ask you that question was because while the prospect of enlargement in practical terms is very slim many european officials are still talking about this range and in very possessive terms for example the incoming president of the European Commission their sole of one that i said just the other day that if the e. U. Fails to offer a european perspective to the western balkans then others and she named china russia turkey and even saudi arabia will fill the gap do you think that you can still. Count on exclusivity or if you will monogamy on the head of the countries in this region i think is unfair to ask for that no i think it is but thats what im on no must go on wanted to express so we have to rethink the whole thing that i think that he didnt say anything more than that and this is very true if dupion union pulls itself out of this area or somebody else will come well get it doesnt have to be either or why couldnt it be you know chinas influence influence here helping to build a railroad russian influence or russian presence here helping to by the 3rd been inviting european influence here helping to strengthen the institutions i mean this is how you would normally think about International Cooperation and yet when it comes to the western balkans its either you belong to me or you belong to them i would say that the countries and people function as families so there is a european family there is about the within european families about the family they somehow feel some sort to say to your father your mother right there when there isnt a certain age when you can move out of here house and get married then to have your own children and well thats what i would always held. Sort of my kids and my parents then the kids and pets i dont know by that absolutely but that doesnt mean that you absolutely should be held hostage to them and you have no rights you engage with them i