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With Croatia, there is less certainty. Quarrels with Slovenia, its former fellow-Yugoslav republic, meant that the EU on Friday concluded only three chapters with Croatia and opened one more. Slovenia blocked further progress.

Then there is Serbia. A report by the United Nations war crimes prosecutor this month made it clear that, even if Serbian co-operation with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague had improved, it ought to be even better.

Macedonia is stuck, too - over that wearisome dispute with Greece about what its name should be. As for Bosnia-Herzegovina, it will be something of an achievement if it hangs together as a state, never mind about joining the EU. And when Montenegro officially presented its membership application on Monday, there were mutterings on the EU side that this was much too premature.

Slovenia may call for a referendum over Croatia's accession to the European Union if a long-standing border dispute between the two countries is not quickly resolved to Ljubljana's satisfaction.

Slovenian Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Zbogar stated that if talks over the border dispute are not resolved in his country's interest, it would be "quite realistic" to expect a popular referendum on ratification of Croatia's accession treaty to the Union, the Croatian daily Jutarni List reported yesterday (7 January). 

Battlefields are no longer the place to solve conflicts in the Balkans. In recent days and weeks, several bilateral conflicts involving countries in the region, which are also hindering their EU accession prospects, are moving to more dignified surroundings: the International Court of Justice at the UN.

Background: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN). It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.  The seat of the court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York .  The court's role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorised United Nations organs and specialised agencies.  Although the UN International Court of Justice's opinion is advisory, without binding effect, it nevertheless remains that the authority and prestige attached to the court's advisory opinions, especially when the organ or agency concerned endorses that opinion, means that its decisions are often sanctioned as such by international law. 

In a very short timeframe, several conflicts between Balkan countries have been referred to the UN's highest court.  In the first of a recent string of lawsuits, Serbia tested the legality of Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence before the Hague Tribunal in October (EurActiv 09/10/08), while on Monday (17 November), Macedonia instituted proceedings against Greece after its neighbour long-time foe had blocked its NATO bid over a name dispute (EurActiv 02/04/08).  Yesterday (18 November), Croatia won the right to sue Serbia for genocide after the court ruled that it had the legal power to decide on the case. In return, Serbia indicated that it would sue Croatia for war crimes. 

Croatia could conclude accession negotiations with the EU by the end of next year, if it fulfills the remaining conditions, while Serbia could become an official EU candidate, according to a draft report on the western Balkan countries' progress towards the EU that the European Commission will present next week.

Croatia's on-going border dispute with Slovenia must be solved within the next few weeks or the country is unlikely to conclude EU talks by the end of the year as planned, the MEP in charge of the dossier has warned. In his report on Croatia's EU progress, approved by deputies in the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Wednesday (21 January), Austrian Socialist MEP Hannes Swoboda says that the goal of concluding negotiations in 2009 can be achieved, "provided the government of Croatia steps up its efforts to address some of the more sensitive issues linked with the accession process, including fighting organised crime and corruption." Croatia's premier, Ivo Sanader (l), and EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn (r). (Photo: European Communities, 2008) Print Comment article window.google_render_ad(); But the MEP told this website that although "in the official report we want to give a clear message that this is still possible," in reality this date is becoming increasingly "difficult to reach." "Only if the border issue is solved in the coming three to four weeks, then it is possible. Because otherwise, technically there is not enough time to deal with the issues of the chapters."

As of now, Croatia – an EU candidate since 2004 and aiming to become full EU member by 2011 at the latest – has opened 22 chapters of the 35 contained in its accession package, and closed seven. Referendum – an 'unacceptable' threat Recently, Slovenia also raised the threat of a referendum on Croatia's EU membership if the border issue is not solved – a move strongly criticised by the Austrian MEP. The threat is "absolutely counterproductive. Already now with the very negative or relatively negative attitude of the Slovene population – if we can believe opinion polls – I have to see [the idea] very critically," Mr Swoboda said.

Unemployment in Croatia jumped to 14.5 percent in January, data showed on Friday, suggesting the global crisis was hurting the small Balkan economy more than officials had previously predicted. Source: ReutersThe number of unemployed rose to 254,000 from 240,455, lifting the jobless rate from 13.7 percent in December and up from a trough of 12.3 percent last August.The national Association of Employers, HUP said this week about 150 people were laid off every day in the European Union candidate country, whose economy is expected to contract this year for the first time in a decade.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader rejected an emergency package proposed by economists, which called for an urgent cut in public spending, saying the government might rebalance the budget only in the second quarter of the year.Analysts said the delay in implementing spending cuts and reforms would only deepen the crisis and might make it likely the country could turn to the International Monetary Fund for help.

The EU yesterday (17 June) opened two new pre-EU accession negotiation chapters with Croatia and Turkey, just one day after the Union's foreign ministers signed an important pre-accession agreement with Bosnia, attenuating fears that the Irish referendum could have a negative impact on the bloc's enlargement process.

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. 

Zagreb has taken steps to protect its coastal waters. Its neighbors and Brussels aren't happy.

Last week, the EU presidency, currently held by Slovenia, warned that Croatia could jeopardize ongoing negotiations on membership. Officials in Zagreb, however, dismiss suggestions that their efforts to protect marine resources could damage ongoing talks with Brussels.

Croatia's Protected Ecological Fishery Zone has been in effect for several years but only applied to EU states on 1 January. Neighboring Slovenia and Italy are most affected by the zone. Slovenia – which took over the rotating EU presidency on the same day, and which has clashed with Croatia on several occasions over disputed land and sea borders – contends that the zone infringes on its own water boundaries, while Italy argues it will hurt its substantial fishing industry.

Croatia has been told by EU officials that it is possible to enter the European Union even if the bloc has not sorted out its institutional problems. "We have been reassured by a number of people from the commission and from the EU member countries that should there be no constitutional arrangement that there are other means (...) that would provide for Croatia to join as the 28th member," Croatia's foreign minister Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic told EUobserver in an interview

Still, there is widespread speculation among EU observers that Vienna could be persuaded to change its position. Vienna is very interested in seeing the EU one day admit Croatia, a country with which Austria has close historical ties.

The EU on Monday (27 April) called on Slovenia and Croatia to accept a European Commission proposal for international arbitration in order to solve their long-standing border dispute, warning that if the quarrel drags on it could have repercussions on other countries in the region.

"We recall the urgency attached to this issue," Czech deputy prime minister Alexandr Vondra, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said at a press conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg where Croatia's EU progress was discussed. "Many member states feel a certain sense of urgency, that the stalemate cannot last forever, that very much is at stake ... the whole strategic concept towards the Western Balkans, as well as other disputes," Mr Vondra added.

As it continues to enlarge, the European Union needs to review its current vote weighting and abandon the veto system, Erhard Busek, special enlargement advisor to the Czech EU Presidency, told EurActiv in an interview.

"Personally, I'm convinced that the current voting weight repartition, as well as the lack of qualified majority vote in most of the situations, is the real background of these hesitations. It has nothing to do with region, because it's completely clear for all member states that all the Western Balkan countries should become members of the EU," Busek said.  He also expressed his personal view that in order to avoid infighting between neighbours, Western Balkan countries could more easily join the EU as a bloc. As an example, he referred to the Croatia-Slovenia border dispute (EurActiv 10/03/09), which he said should be solved by negotiations.  "My personal opinion is that […] there could be a bloc of entering countries. Because the real danger is - and we have to learn from the experience of Slovenia and Croatia - is that one country blocks the neighbouring country because of bilateral problems. It's a real nonsense and I think it's better to do it all together," Busek said.