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28/02/2010BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj said on Friday (February 26th) that his country will submit its EU membership application by the end of this year. The statement came after a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele in Brussels. Alkalaj said BiH cannot afford any further delays on the road to the EU. "We would like to submit our application for candidate status by the end of this year because this would allow us to continue reforms. We cannot waste any more time," Alkalaj said. Fuele stated that the EU wants BiH to be a stable country with a clear European perspective, but pointed to some obstacles. He urged consensus among BiH politicians and made particular point of necessary amendments to the country's constitution. (Dnevni Avaz, Radio Slobodna Evropa, SRNA - 26/02/10)

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — European and U.S. officials met with Bosnian leaders on Friday to discuss ways of overcoming a stalemate that has kept the nation behind others seeking to join NATO and the 27-nation European Union.U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg; Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt; and Olli Rehn, the EU's enlargement commissioner, said they will return on Oct. 20 to see how much local leaders have coordinated their positions.

Rehn told reporters that a constitutional reform should improve the functionality of the state institutions and that only a sovereign country with efficient institutions can be a credible candidate for EU membership.

Serbia's president on Saturday warned the financial crisis gripping Europe must not be allowed to derail the Balkans' hopes of joining the European Union, ahead of a crunch summit with the bloc."The policy of the European Union's enlargement must not be interrupted at any price," President Boris Tadic told a conference of regional leaders, held in Sarajevo ahead of a vital EU-Balkans summit on June 2.

Tadic was meeting with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Montenegrin President Filip Vujanovic and their colleagues from the Bosnian tripartite presidency, namely Muslim leader Haris Silajdzic.Officials and media across the Balkans have expressed concern that the ongoing debt crisis could slow down the enlargement process, with new members perceived as a potential threat to the bloc's financial stability.

October 19th 2010: European Council President Herman Van Rompuy officially visited Montenegro for the first time where he met with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, President Filip Vujanovic and Parliament President Ranko Krivokapic. He discussed with Montenegrin officials about cooperation, reforms in Montenegro, the forthcoming European Commission opinion on Montenegro, EU membership and other regional matters.

Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur on Montenegro Charles Tannock also visited Podgorica a few days ago, on October 15, for talks on Montenegro - EU relations and potential membership. Montenegrin PM told Mr Tannock that he expects a positive opinion from the European Commission in early November. He explained that by ‘positive opinion’ he means a recommendation for Montenegro to become an EU candidate country and a recommendation, conditional or not, for the opening of EU accession talks in the near future. Mr Tannock said that the EU should make no demands for an unreasonable delay before opening negotiations with Montenegro, adding that Macedonia’s situation should not be a general model for the enlargement process. He pointed out the importance of judging every aspiring EU member on their own merits, rather than all grouped together. He also said “And in the regatta, which I think will now ensue, Montenegro remains a good news story. Even if that generates a little bit of envy from one or two of your neighbors.” Montenegrin  PM pointed out that he considers wrong the concept of simultaneous accession of Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro to the European Union, and he prefers the ‘regatta model’ in EU enlargement. He told newspaper “Pobjeda” that he believes idea of simultaneous accession is not the right concept. “If you try to force the package, this is like a train, which in the Balkan case adjusts the speed to the slowest car”, said Djukanovic.

The European Union should give western Balkan states a target date for accession to the bloc in a bid to bolster democratic reforms in the region and invigorate EU enlargement, Greece's foreign minister said on Monday. Dimitris Droutsas said the EU could consider setting 2018 as a goal for hopefuls in the Balkans to become members but that only countries that are fully ready should be allowed to join. Greece would aim to seek consensus among EU member nations for such a date -- for states including Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia -- when it holds the bloc's rotating presidency in 2014, he said. "We can adopt a political declaration that sets a specific, ambitious and realistic goal for completing the accession process for western Balkans," Droutsas said at a seminar in Brussels where he was to attend an EU foreign ministers meeting.