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But unlike the “accession neighbors” of Central Europe or the Western Balkans, the EU's eastern neighbors have two other alternatives to the EU: joining the gradually re-consolidating Russian “sphere of influence” or playing a Tito-style game of perpetual maneuvering between East and West to strengthen their position, rather than fully committing to one or the other. The new neighbors can more easily eschew EU conditionality and attendant reforms. They also have deeply corrupt and often authoritarian elites whose primary goal is to stay in power.

As a result, most Eastern European governments want an ENP “a la carte.” Unlike the accession countries of the 1990s, they are much more selective of what they take from the EU. Most of them are not interested in importing the whole acquis. Why should they adopt expensive social or environmental laws, if they are not going to join the EU?

The EU is entering a new game in the neighborhood (and even in countries like Turkey or Serbia). A reworked model of ENP, or what is effectively enlargement-lite, might work for Moldova and Ukraine, but is unlikely to have much effect elsewhere. Instead, the EU's ability to shape the future development - and choices -- of its other eastern neighbors will depend on the EU's capacity to differentiate and play the different “sovereignty games” of its neighbors, which implies being much more responsive to their needs.

Citizens from the western Balkans have mixed feelings regarding their countries' EU future, with Kosovars and Albanians being particularly optimistic, but barely a third of Croats consider EU accession to be "a good thing," a new survey has shown. While those living in Kosovo and Albania back their countries' EU integration almost unanimously (89% and 83% respectively), only 29 percent of Croats think Zagreb's EU membership would be beneficial, while 26 percent say it would be a bad thing, according to a Gallup survey presented in Brussels on Monday (17 November).

The Gallup survey also looked into the western Balkan citizens' general perception of their lives, economic situation, relations to the neighbouring countries, or their attitudes towards their respective governments. It also asked respondents about their views on international institutions and organisations – such as the International Crime Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), with which most countries of the region have to fully cooperate in order to be let into the EU. People in the different countries were divided on the issue, with a majority of Albanians (69%) and Kosovars (68%) saying the tribunal was helping reconciliation and strengthening peace in the region. A majority of Macedonians (52%), Croats (53%) and especially Serbs (64%) disagreed however, and thought that not only did the ICTY not serve the interest of the region, but it was simply fuelling past conflicts.

An EU mediation group is the only solution to the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor has said.

Slovenia and Croatia have been unable to agree on their common land and sea border since they both seceded from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Particularly thorny is a patch of the Adriatic Sea close to the Slovenian city of Piran that would secure Slovenian ships direct access to international waters. In December, Ljubljana blocked the opening or closing of 11 chapters of Croatia's 35-chapter EU accession negotiations package over the issue.

But the process of Croatia becoming a full EU member is unlikely to be completed before a final solution to the border dispute is found, Slovenia's premier underlined. "If political parties represented in the house [the Slovenian parliament], or the civil society, or everybody else, would have the feeling that things are not going in the right direction, I'm very pessimistic that at the end of the day the house will vote in favour of Croatia's full EU membership if the [border] problem would not be solved," Mr Pahor said. "The best option would be to solve the problem [before]," he added. In addition, Croatia still has open border issues with neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia – which also aspire to become EU members in the long term – "and it will be very difficult to find a solution" to these disputes if the one with Ljubljana is not settled first, the Slovenian premier noted.

Czech Prime Minister and current EU presidency holder Mirek Topolánek today (13 March) warned that stopping enlargement and introducing new barriers in Europe is a "road to hell". He was writing in English during an online chat session, in response to a question from EurActiv.

As EU countries are only expected to offer Croatia a realistic chances of joining the bloc in the near term, holding back the membership aspirations of Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania, Topolánek, who had just returned from a tour of the region, strongly advocated a more generous approach to the Western Balkans.  "The citizens of the countries which try to prevent further EU enlargement are opposing the principal idea of the European Community. The civilisation mission and the enlargement of a space of security, prosperity and freedom must be perpetuated, since these are the values upon which the EU was founded. Introducing new iron curtains, barriers or walls is a road to hell," Topolánek said. 

The constitution is expected to come into effect on 15 June - around the time when the European Union's mission, known as EULEX, is supposed to take over authority from the United Nations.

The aim of EULEX, consisting of over 2,000 personnel, is to help the Kosovo authorities in all areas related to the rule of law, in particular in the police, judiciary, customs and correctional services. However, it is still uncertain when exactly the transfer of power will take place, as the move lacks UN approval. Its top body, the Security Council, is divided over the issue, with Russia - Serbia's key ally - being the main opposition force.

This year could also be "decisive" for Croatia if it makes "substantial progress" with its judicial and administrative reforms, with the fight against corruption and the restructuring of its ship-building industry.

For their part, potential candidates Albania and Montenegro need to build a "convincing track record over the implementation of the SAAs and pursue reforms with determination," while Kosovo must ensure its commitment to a "democratic and multi-ethnic society".

Brussels is constantly promising money and EU accession to the Western Balkans. But which EU member state really wants new EU members, wonders H-J Schlamp in an opinion piece for the SPIEGEL (which I copy pasted below). The EU seems to be increasingly critical of Croatia's progress in accession negotiations, and does not seem to be willing to set a date for the start of negotiations with Macedonia (which has been waiting for more than two years (!!) after having been granted candidate status in December 2005). Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina could maybe start accession negotiations in 2015... and Serbia - well, it could be well on its way into the EU, if it had reacted differently to Kosovo's independence declaration. Read more below (only in German, unfortunately)...

Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica, DSS, says the first move for the new parliament and government will be to annul "the Tadić-Đelić SAA signature".

"This agreement has only one goal, to be interpreted as Serbia's signature to Kosovo's independence," Koštunica said. "Nothing will come out of this trick, because after the elections, the new government and parliament will annul the Tadić-Đelić signature," the leader of the DSS-NS coalition, running in the May 11 ballot, continued.

30 April 2008 Brussels_ Bosnia and Herzegovina will sign a key EU pre-membership deal on 26 May.

To secure the signing of the deal, Bosnia had to pass a series of highly-contested police reforms which was a precondition for the country to advance in the EU integration process. The police reform laws were designed to bring a measure of harmony to the law-enforcement systems in Bosnia, whose functions and powers since the 1995 Dayton peace agreement have been split between the country’s two virtually independent entities, the Republika Srpska and the BiH Federation. The reforms were approved earlier this month following much deliberation by Bosnian politicians. The EU’s failure to sign the deal with Bosnia on Tuesday raised eyebrows among journalists since a deal was hastily signed with Serbia. Read more: http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/9742/

A large majority of Serbs still want their country to join the EU (63.9%), although the figure has dropped compared to last October, when 71.5% voiced their support for EU accession, reveals the poll, which was released yesterday (9 April).  However, 71.3% of Serbian citizens consider it unacceptable that the possibility of EU membership is made conditional on Serbia's recognition of its former province's secession. 

Serbia's Kosovo Minister Slobodan Samardzic added that it would be interesting to see whether the EU would continue the stabilisation and association process now that Kosovo is an independent state.  "Should the EU happen to do that, and does it only with independent states, that would automatically mean that the EU was breaching Article 135 of our agreement on stabilisation and association with the EU, where Kosovo's position is clearly defined," the minister explained. 

Governments Kosovar Constitutional Commission: Kosovo's Constitution Press articles B92.net: Poll: Serbians want EU, but not without Kosovo B92.net: Tadić speaks against interference in elections BBC: Kosovo adopts a new constitution

After a re-run of the general election in Macedonia and the entry into force of Kosovo's new constitution on Sunday, EU foreign ministers will convene today (16 June) to review the situation in the neighbouring Western Balkans.

Ministers will likely welcome the peaceful re-run of parliamentary elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Sunday, just two weeks after ethnic violence marred the first elections on 1 June. 

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. 

The international community has pledged to invest €1.2 billion toward the rebuilding of Kosovo, with the European Commission alone putting aside €508 million to fill in the gaps in Pristina's financial needs from 2009 to 2013.

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.

In Kosovo: What Everyone Needs to Know , Tim Judah provides a straight-forward guide to the complicated place that is Kosovo. Judah, who has spent years covering the region, offers succinct, penetrating answers to a wide range of questions: Why is Kosovo important? Who are the Albanians? Who are the Serbs? Why is Kosovo so important to Serbs? What role does Kosovo play in the region and in the world? Judah reveals how things stand now and presents the history and geopolitical dynamics that have led to it. The most important of these is the question of the right to self-determination, invoked by the Kosovo Albanians, as opposed to right of territorial integrity invoked by the Serbs.

Serbia's cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal is still not sufficient, its chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte told EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday (15 October). She said some progress could be noted, but in order to prove its full cooperation with the International Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Belgrade has still to arrest and hand over former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic.

The eurosceptic nationalist candidate of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), Tomislav Nikolic, won the first round in the country's presidential elections held on Sunday(20 January). Mr Nikolic obtained 39.57 percent of the votes, followed by current president Boris Tadic of the Democratic Party, who received 35.45 percent, according to preliminary results reported by Serbian news agency Tanjug.

As none of the candidates achieved 50 percent of the votes, the two men will face each other in a run-off on 3 February – a situation similar to what happened in elections four years ago.

The 3 February run-off between the radical and the moderate candidate is expected to be decisive for the country's EU future.

France has indicated that it is ready to support further enlargement of the European Union, with a series of countries from the Western Balkans lining up to the join the 27-nation bloc.

"We used to believe that a federal Europe was necessary for a more deeply integrated union and that enlargement would counter this and prevent Europe from working effectively. We have now overcome this contradiction," the minister said.

The words are likely to be seen as a strongly positive signal to Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, which have been promised eventual EU membership.

The Ahtisaari blueprint - which is still subject to change - proposes that Kosovo should remain under international supervision for an unspecified period of time but should gradually acquire the trappings of statehood, such as a flag, an anthem, a constitution and a NATO-trained army.