The question of the extent to which US President Joe Biden's decree sends a strong message and warning to nationalists in the Western Balkans is debatable. But the fact is that Biden's election victory sparked disappointment and a bad omen among populist nationalists in Europe. Among them was Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who will soon take over the EU presidency, openly supporting Donald Trump in challenging Biden's predicted victory.

The executive order of the President of the United States in any case has been interpreted by many as an expression of the need to address the challenges related to the further integration and stabilization of the Western Balkans region.

And one of the key issues that all those who contribute to undermining stability are forcing is the constant challenge and denial of state and national identities. It has already been concluded that this creates serious headaches when it comes to rebuilding and strengthening transatlantic ties, especially in relation to the further, blocked process of EU enlargement.

Talk about Europe

The broader picture of the enlargement of the Union can not be reduced only to the territorial aspect, because the EU, seen through the pursuit of European integration, describes the Balkans in a good way, but also defines the imaginary European identity. In this way, a mental withdrawal of borders is created, because it means consequences for the Balkan countries, which are considered to never be able to reach the level of development required by the Western European norm.

That is why they are forced, including, of course, Macedonia, to constantly implement reforms and accept the demands that come from outside. Regardless of the persistence of populist nationalists in finding reasons to reject such "unjust" conditions.

"It's best to get used to it," Emmanuel Macron said in a speech at the Sorbonne University after being elected French president, "that I have no intention of stopping talking about Europe!" "our battles, our history, our identity" are taking place.

Prime Minister Zaev referred to his statement that "our identity lies in Europe" in Paris, after the talks in which Macron now said that Macedonia deserves to start negotiations with the EU without delay.

There is a lot to talk about the French president and his political efforts, and to have different and conflicting opinions, especially about his views on the European integration project, which forced Macedonia to face a French veto. But Macron still seems right when he says "we need to keep talking about Europe."

Nationalism often leads to desperation. Especially in societies where it is difficult to find a measure and establish an appropriate balance between egalitarian and individualistic interests, between collective projects and personal autonomy. In many places in Eastern Europe, the protracted transition still does not yield the expected results of civil society emancipation. In developed Western European countries, building a social welfare system significantly facilitates liberation from dependent status, for example in relation to family and relatives, but at the same time the sense of belonging to "society" is not disputed.

MN: Dominance of nationalism

Nationalism absorbs energy from historical experiences. But society is constantly changing, so that the only national substance, the "essence" to which nationalists refer, can hardly be fixed outside the spatial and temporal framework. Bulgarians, like the Greeks, seek to embed in the foundations of European integration perceptions and notions of their own historically ideal nation, that is, of the "original" that cannot be forged by its neighbors. Such Bulgaria, which is propagated in Sofia, is a fiction, transferred to the fantasy of the past and the dream of the future.

It is from such a point of view that the strong but selective interest in history of other Balkan peoples can be more closely understood. As one wisely noted, in the nationalists' perceptions and understandings, history is a prologue to a party program, or it should be in any case.

It is therefore not too surprising that nationalists across Europe, not just in the Balkans, are trying in various ways to "correct" and rewrite history, to establish control over it, to make it much more "their own" than she really can be. No nation in Europe is built on a "true" identity, culture or history without mythological or political representations and understandings.

At the broadest level, after the crises that have hit the EU in recent years, political development has been marked by nationalist and populist reactions. Especially by strengthening the nationalist view of identity, which often results in many becoming less tolerant of cultural diversity. Nationalist identity policy is a serious obstacle to the future development of the EU, as it runs counter to individual rights, democracy and supranational solutions, which operate across national borders.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that so much dust has been raised about Biden's decree.