Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann's Library tagged westernbalkans →  View Popular

The plenary debate in Strasbourg, which lasted three hours, nevertheless primarily focused on outstanding work rather than past achievements. Following the recent publication of the Commission's '2009 Strategy Paper' (EurActiv 15/10/09), the European Parliament prepared a resolution based on a draft by MEP Gabriele Albertini (Italy, EPP). 

147 amendments 

The five-page resolution

has in the meantime been supplemented by a 101-page paper listing 147 amendments

. Many of these concern the formulation of the name of Kosovo, which is still not recognised by six EU countries, the 'name dispute' between Macedonia and Greece, the Cyprus problem and the role of Turkey. 

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn presented in Brussels last Wednesday the new European Commission (EC) report on Macedonia, assessing the country's progress towards kick-starting its EU membership negotiations.

"Now we can recommend the opening of negotiations for membership", said Rehn.

The positive recommendation comes after the EC said Macedonia "has made satisfactory progress in fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria", according to Rehn. Macedonia "achieved convincing progress and substantively addressed key reform priorities".

Mr Kaczynski warmly endorsed Poland's EU membership. But he said integration should not go too far and indicated that his accord is based on trust that the EU will take in more former Communist states in the future.

"Without any complexes, without fears we have opted for further integration with the European Union, because we feel good, we feel confident inside this fellowship," he said. "The union is a collection of sovereign states and will remain so. But co-operation will become ever more close."

"The union as an exceptionally successful experiment cannot be closed to others who want to join it. Not just Balkan countries, but also Ukraine, Georgia, in the future, others. The union can't say No to them," he added, in his final words before putting pen to paper

Croatia, hoping to be the European Union's next country to join the bloc, resumes membership negotiations on Friday (2 October).

The talks are being restarted now that a border dispute between the former Yugoslav nation and its neighbour and EU member state Slovenia is to be put to arbitration overseen by Brussels.

The 27-country bloc and Croatia are expected to open six new chapters of the 35 policy areas that are up for negotiation at an intergovernmental accession conference in the European capital.

It is also believed that an additional five may be closed on Friday as well.

If the results live up to diplomat expectations, Zagreb will have opened 28 chapters and closed 12 as of the end of the day.

The parliamentary committee on EU affairs in Ljubljana voted unanimously on Tuesday (29 September) in favour of lifting the veto, the Croatian news agency Hina reported. 

The move follows a decision by the two countries' prime ministers, who recently said the border dispute that had poisoned their relations should not present an obstacle to proceeding with Croatia's EU accession negotiations.

Slovenia said Friday it was ready to lift its veto on neighbour Croatia's European Union accession talks immediately, after the two prime ministers agreed on how to solve an 18-year old border dispute.

"The government will immediately propose (to parliamentary committees) that Slovenia removes restraints for Croatia's EU negotiating process," Slovenia's Prime Minister Borut Pahor said after talks with his Croat counterpart Jadranka Kosor.

The two committees met later Friday but said they needed more time to consider the issue. They are expected to decide on whether to allow Slovenia to lift the veto early next week.

The news comes as a boost to Zagreb -- whose EU bid has been on ice for almost 10 months -- and other EU hopefuls in the Western Balkans, where bilateral disputes abound.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the rotating six-month presidency of the EU, welcomed the agreement and said Croatia can now continue EU accession talks.

The president and prime minister of Kosovo have walked out of talks with EU representatives in the first serious bilateral rift since Kosovo declared independence last year.

The talks in Pristina on Thursday (27 August) were designed to soothe ethnic Albanian fears over a new police co-operation agreement between the Serbian interior ministry and the EU's police mission to Kosovo, Eulex.

The co-operation protocol will help Serb and EU police share information on cross-border organised crime and is a pre-condition for Serbia to obtain visa free travel to the EU in 2010.

But Kosovo leaders said that Eulex' direct dealing with Serbia undermines its attempt to establish a sovereign state.

"The Kosovo leaders reiterated in the meeting their firm position against the protocol and emphasised that from today any debate and discussion on this issue is completely closed. Kosovo does not take any obligation and responsibility for issues which it has not decided in a sovereign way," the office of Kosovo president Fatmir Sejdiu said.

An agreement to be signed between EULEX and Belgrade, designed to help solve a 'visa problem' for Serbian nationals, apparently became an irritant for Albanian extremists, who overturned 28 SUV cars belonging to the EU mission in the capital Pristina. 

Many Albanian Kosovars insisted that it was up to Kosovo, not EULEX, to sign any international agreements

Serbia Matters presents policy essays on Serbia's post-Milosevic era written by internationally recognised authors, policymakers, academics and political analysts actively engaged in the Balkans discourse. Since 2000 Serbia has moved from a decade of wars and delayed transition towards European integration. The book assesses the country's present state of affairs, recent achievements and future challenges. It also offers pertinent analyses and compelling arguments as to why Serbia's accession to the European Union matters as much for Belgrade as it does for the whole Western Balkans.
This book is written with the aim to persuade both Serbia's leaders and citizens and those Member States of the European Union who are hit by 'enlargement fatigue' that the country ought to have its rightful place in the EU and that there is no alternative to the reform process.

Das Werk ist Teil der Reihe

Southeast European Integration Perspectives, Band 1.

In a separate incident, clashes between Serbs and Albanian Kosovars in Mitrovica, home to a concentration of Serbs, in northern Kosovo resulted in seven people being injured.

According to reports, the violence broke out following a rally of around 100 Serbs protesting the reconstruction of Albanian buildings that had been hit during the war in the late 1990s.

Stones were thrown at Albanian construction workers and a hand grenade went off. At some point the two sides exchanged shotgun fire, the BBC reports.

EU forces then used tear gas to calm the situation.

The European Union's law enforcement mission in Kosovo (EULEX) was on Tuesday (25 August) the target of violent protests by Albanians opposed to the presence of the international community in the country.

Twenty eight EULEX vehicles near a youth centre in downtown Pristina were damaged during the events, organised by the Vetevendosja (Self-Determination) group, which launched its assault in reaction to co-operation between EULEX and Belgrade.

The “European perspective” is key concept for integrating western Balkans into EU. The main carrot for ordinary people during this millennium has been visa-free travel after some 17 years of isolation. On 15^th July 2009, the European Commission submitted its proposal on visa-free travel for citizens of Western Balkans countries. After a non-binding opinion of the European parliament on the EC proposal the Council comprising EU interior ministers will take the official vote and at best case free travel to Schengen area could be possible January 2010.

But not for all! European perspective will be true only for some when visa ban still will be existing for some countries or even to some ethnic groups inside a country. Instead of connecting people of western Balkans with western Europe the EC proposal will divide again people according their nationality or location. From EU’s side the reason for division is seen technical related to common standards; from western Balkan’s perspective the reasons for division can be seen political or even related to religion.

Abstract

The European Commission said it regretted that Croatia and Slovenia had failed to make progress in talks on the settlement of their border row, underlining that it was a bilateral issue. 

The talks had progressed well since January and there remained only a limited number of points to be settled, but the two sides yesterday failed to make progress on those points, says a brief statement issued by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn’s office. Rehn will now report to the current Czech and future Swedish EU Presidencies, it adds.