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The commission's detailed blueprint for the new model ENP - which aims to create a ring of peaceful and economically advanced states around the EU's borders - will be unveiled in Brussels on 29 November in time for the upcoming German EU presidency to dovetail the ideas with its own foreign policy thinking.

The European Parliament has urged Macedonia to solve the 'name dispute' with Greece, warning the small country against a resurgence of "hate speech" in its media with respect to neighbouring countries.

The European Parliament report, adopted on April 23 with 601 votes in favour and 52 against (30 abstentions), represents a victory for Greece. Indeed, the text calls on "both sides to seize the opportunity to resume negotiations immediately […] so that the issue does not continue to represent an obstacle to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's membership of international organisations". 

Following the setback at the NATO summit in Bucharest in early April, when Macedonia did not obtain an invitation to join the Alliance due to the unresolved "name dispute" with Greece, the Macedonian press depicted its neighbour in a style reminiscent of the Cold War (EurActiv 04/04/08). Moreover, the Macedonian press traditionally projects a very negative image of Bulgaria - again reminiscent of Tito's Yugoslavia, when Belgrade had a hostile policy towards Bulgaria. The amendment warning against "hate speech" was introduced by Bulgarian MEP Nickolay Mladenov (EPP-ED) and supported by his compatriot Evgeni Kirilov (PES). 

However, recent electoral violence and nationalistic mood are not the only worrying signs. A second major problem is the suppression and long persecution of Bulgarian-Macedonians in the country, a policy that causes unrest in Bulgaria, although the Bul-garian government has made efforts to keep a low profile with a view to avoiding American reactions. The coming election reruns will not certainly change the political landscape in the country, since the parliamentary balance of power is given. Yet, the current configura-tion of power in domestic politics is by far the most unpromising one during the last years, while the mood reminds of Greece in the early 1990s. It is obvious that the current political situation in Skopje leaves only marginal space for conflict resolution since nationalism is the driving force behind domestic politics. The dominant role of ultra-nationalists led to the political marginalization of those modest voices inside the country that could operate as facilitating factors in the name dispute.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina | The pending decision on Kosovo’s status and Serbia’s recent election results are consuming what little attention policy-makers give the Balkans these days. But by the end of February, over a decade of international efforts to forge a lasting peace and the ultimate integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina into the European mainstream will come down to one critical set of decisions. Late January saw the overdue and ill-camouflaged firing of Christian Schwarz-Schilling from the top job in the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and as EU special representative in Bosnia. In his face-saving announcement that he had decided not to seek an extension of his mandate, Schwarz-Schilling stated that OHR should not close as scheduled at the end of June. This judgment is almost certainly going to be confirmed in late February, when the Peace Implementation Council, the ad-hoc grouping of governments and international institutions that oversees the OHR, meets in Brussels.

Offers an analysis of the process of negotiating the accession of Eastern, Southeastern, and Central European countries, as well as Mediterranean countries to the European Union. This work gives insight into the working methods of both the institutions in Brussels and of the representatives of the member states that made them a success.Schlagworte: Central & Eastern European Policy Studies; v. 2