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"On behalf of the Office of the Prosecutor, I would like to congratulate the Serbian authorities … on achieving this milestone in co-operation with the ICTY," UN prosecutor Serge Brammertz said in a statement following the arrest.

"This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade," he added.

For his part, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn called the moment: "historic for international justice."

It is also "very important for Serbia's European aspirations" and "proves that the new government of Serbia has the determination to turn the page, leave the nationalist past behind and move towards a European future," he added.

In addition, Gruevski urged Athens to recognise the existence of the Macedonian minority on its territory and grant them the right to education in their own language as well as to foster their culture and traditions. 

Greece immediately reacted. In response to Gruevski's letter, Greek Foreigh Minister Dora Bakoyiannis said on Tuesday that the extreme nationalism from Skopje "sows the wind, but reaps whirlwind". 

Croatia will be ready to join the EU in 2009 and its membership is not going to be delayed by the EU's current institutional "crisis", Croatian President Stjepan Mesic has said.

"I understand European countries, including France, which intend to solve the EU's institutional problems before proceeding to any new accessions … [But] we will speed up the rhythm of our reforms and be ready in 2009 to join the EU as its 28th member," Mr Mesic told French daily Le Figaro in an interview published on Tuesday (15 July).

Kosovo, which seceded from Serbia in February of this year, is one of Europe's most under-developed economies and is highly dependent on foreign subsidies.

From 1999 to 2007, when under the direct administration of the United Nations, Pristina benefitted from over €3.5 billion in reconstruction assistance.

However, the official unemployment rate remains a worrying 43 percent, with youth unemployment estimated even higher, at around 60 percent.

Kosovo's economy grew by 4.4 percent in 2007, with an inflation rate of 13.6 percent as of April, 2008.

The largest chunk of money for Kosovo is to come from the European Commission, followed by an American contribution of some $400 million. Beyond the EU's own funds, member state Germany has pledged €100 million, and the UK has confirmed an aid package worth £23 million.

Background:

EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday (19 June) will spend little time discussing enlargement of the bloc, and are not expected to do more than reaffirm western Balkan countries' "European perspective" – despite greater expectations from some of the EU hopefuls.

One such country – Macedonia, an EU candidate since 2005 – has lately been indicating its readiness to start accession negotiations as soon as possible.

Macedonia had had high expectations on starting accession negotiations during Ljubljana's time at the EU helm, as Slovenia – which was part of the former Yugoslavia together with Macedonia – has made the Western Balkans' EU integration a priority of its presidency.

Moreover, not winning the announcement of a date now means that Skopje may not start negotiations this year at all, as the next EU presidency country, France, has explicitly taken Greece's side in the name row, and is not expected to put a particular emphasis on enlargement issues.

With the two new policy areas - free movement of workers and social policy and employment - 20 of the 35 "chapters" have been opened with Croatia since the start of negotiations in October 2005. 

Speaking after the conference, Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic and Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel expressed hope that all chapters could be closed by the end of the year. "It's possible. I wish this possibility would become reality," said Rupel, whose country holds the EU Presidency until 30 June. 

The issue of future EU enlargements is proving particularly slippery, as the current and future holders of the EU's rotating presidency expressed contrary views on the subject. The president of the European Parliament then contradicted the EU's enlargement commissioner and the bloc's foreign policy chief in much the same manner. 

While Slovenian Foreign Minister Dmitrij Rupel, on behalf of the outgoing EU Presidency, excluded any changes to the enlargement process following the Irish referendum, French President and upcoming EU Council President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that "for opening to the Balkans, to Croatia, we need the Lisbon Treaty". Sarkozy's comments were made in Prague, where he was trying to convince his eurosceptic hosts that the Czech Republic should not halt its ratification process. Ratification has indeed stalled there pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court. 

As EU foreign ministers try to breathe life back into the Lisbon Treaty, the charter of institutional reforms rejected by Irish voters last week, Dublin is likely to be offered stronger guarantees in the sensitive areas of taxation, defence and family policies.

According to the Financial Times, "explanatory protocols" should explicitly state that the document does not affect Ireland's ability to set its own tax rates, the country's neutrality status or its abortion policy.

Another solution being floated involves a legal assurance that Ireland will never lose its seat at the European Commission table, the Irish Times reports. The Lisbon Treaty enables EU leaders to put the reduction of the size of the commission on ice.

Either scenario is expected to be agreed at the first top-level meeting of EU leaders under the French EU presidency in October.

Irish No will not put brakes on EU enlargement

Aside from the size of the next European Commission - now capped by the current EU rules - a question mark hangs over the 27-nation bloc's capacity to absorb new members.

The Nice Treaty is tailored to no more than 27 member states.

When asked about the prospects of EU hopefuls' accession to the EU, Mr Rupel excluded any changes to the process.

"The outcome of the Irish referendum in no way changes enlargement policy...The EU unanimously decided to invited the countries of the Western Balkans to take membership so there is no doubt about that," the minister said, but added: "How we will carry that out that is another question."

"The worst would be for Brussels to impose something on Ireland," Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said after the meeting.

According to him, there were three scenarios which should be categorically avoided: a long period of reflection such as the one following the failure of the constitution, a renegotiation of the Lisbon Treaty, and the suspension of the ratification process. 

Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country holds the EU Presidency until 30 June, insisted the EU was not in a crisis. He expressed his confidence that "sooner or later these reforms [envisaged by the Lisbon Treaty] will see the light of day". But, he added, it would be "risky to say that we are going to give life back to the treaty while faced with a deadlock". 

Meanwhile, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn further reassured EU candidate countries that enlargement is not threatened by the Irish 'no', said, dismissing calls such as that from European Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering, who said he saw Croatia as the last country to join for now as long as the new treaty is still not in place. 

Links

The German and Polish leaders said Monday that European Union countries should press ahead with ratifying the reform treaty rejected by Irish voters, but vowed not to isolate Ireland as they seek a way out of the crisis.

The charter, meant to replace the failed EU constitution, was rejected in an

Abstract

[From the introduction] The foregoing summary of current events indicates the complexity of the situation the

EU is dealing with on the Balkans. Currently, it seems that, apart from Croatia and

partly Montenegro and Macedonia, the countries are still far away from any

meaningful prospects regarding European integration. A detailed overview of all of

the intricacies and activities of the European Union’s foreign policy in the Western

Balkans is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, the following discussion addresses

the main institutional and legal issues with regard to the process of integration for the

countries of the Western Balkans. This process, the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP), is a precondition to enlargement procedures. In the light of the current events, the final part addresses the particularities of the role foreseen for the EU in

Kosovo.

While Kosovo is not on the foreign ministers' agenda, it is unlikely that they will be able to avoid the topic, after the fledgling state's constitution entered into force on Sunday. 

The EU is also poised to take over policing and justice tasks from the United Nations after the UN's Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon last week put forward proposals to "reconfigure" the activities of the UN Mission UNMIK to allow the EU to deploy its contested EU-Lex police mission there (EurActiv 29/05/08). 

"It is my intention to reconfigure the structure and profile of the international civil presence [...] enabling the European Union to assume an enhanced operational role," said the secretary general in letters to Kosovo and Serbian leaders. 

But the handover, which is foreseen in Kosovo's constitution, remains strongly opposed by both Serbia and Russia, who insist that the EU mission is illegal because it has not been approved by the UN Security Council. 

A new UN resolution drafted in 2007 was to see UNMIK cede powers to the government of an independent Kosovo, supported by the 2,200-strong EULEX police and customs force and overseen by an EU special representative and his International Civilian Office.

Russia blocked the new UN resolution but Kosovo declared independence unilaterally on 17 February, creating the current situation in which just 20 of the 27 EU states have recognised Kosovo independence and just 300 EULEX officials have so far been deployed.