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Hungary, which is due to replace Belgium at the EU helm on January 1st, has said that further consolidation and enlargement of the 27-nation bloc will be among the key priorities of its six-month chairmanship of the Union.
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05.01.11: Tadic: There is no better alternative for Serbia than EU - 0 views
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Serbian President Boris Tadic stated on Wednesday that there is no better alternative for Serbia than joining the EU, adding that the country's EU membership would help overcome many historical misunderstandings in the Western Balkans. Addressing the participants of the ambassadors' conference held in Belgrade, Tadic said that the EU integration is Serbia's most important political goal for 2011 and the years to come. "Serbia's priority goal is to obtain the EU candidate status, but at this point we cannot say if the date for the beginning of negotiations on the EU accession will be determined this year or next," Tadic stressed.
EUobserver / Romania threatens Croatia in Schengen dispute - 0 views
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Romania is threatening to create problems for Croatia's EU accession bid in a diplomatic counter-attack against delays to its own entry into the EU's border-free Schengen zone. Romanian foreign minister Teodor Baconschi in an interview with the daily newspaper Adevarul on Monday (3 January) attacked Germany and France for linking Romania's Schengen bid to progress on corruption and organised crime.
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EUobserver understands that this option is not really feasible however, as the monitoring was a jointly agreed commitment of Bulgaria and Romania when they joined the bloc. "It's unwise to give it up if you want something else at the same time," one EU official told this website. For its part, Croatia has already been held hostage by its neighbour Slovenia, which in recent years delayed its EU accession progress over a maritime border dispute. Romania's sabre-rattling seems to be directed primarily at Germany - Croatia's main supporter in the EU - rather than the Balkan state itself. But it could, in theory, delay the process. Croatia is hoping to finish EU accession talks in the coming months. EU governments and the European Parliament then have to approve and ratify its accession treaty, with membership likely to happen in 2013 if everything goes smoothly.
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Mr Petkov's allegations reflect a dire image painted by EU officials in talks with US diplomats in Sofia, as reported in a US cable dating back to 26 June 2009 and published by WikiLeaks. Under the headline "How to you make them reform when they don't want to?" the US diplomats spoke of EU commission officials' "growing and by now extreme frustration with Sofia's cosmetic fixes to get a 'good report' while failing to undertake real reforms." "The government's defensive arrogance - and lack of political will - is intensifying enlargement fatigue in Brussels," an EU source told the US diplomat. "According to reliable contacts, Brussels Eurocrats have dubbed enlargement fatigue the 'Bulgarian Break,' further tarnishing Bulgaria's bad image within the EU," the cable added.
Belgrade steps closer to EU negotiations - 0 views
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In Brussels this week, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic submitted the answers to more than 2,400 questions regarding reforms being implemented and the country's readiness to become a candidate for EU membership. After a meeting with EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday (January 31st), Cvetkovic said he is confident Serbia would become a candidate by the end of the year.
02.03.11: Croatia's justice system still not up to scratch, EU report says - 0 views
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Brussels - Croatia's efforts to reform its judicial system, fight crime, prosecute war criminals and protect minorities are still not good enough for European Union membership, a report concluded Wednesday.
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The negative findings meant the commission was unable to recommend closure of talks with Croatia on the judiciary and fundamental rights, a key step towards accession.
07.06.11: Reviving EU enlargement - 0 views
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The arrest of the former Bosnian Serb commander is good news for the relatives of those killed at Srebrenica; for international justice, which may be slow but has a long memory; for Serbia, which has taken a leap towards integration with Europe; and for the European Union, which, despite its economic and political troubles, has shown its potential to transform even intractable Balkan disputes. That the arrest took place on the same day as a visit by Cathy Ashton, the EU's foreign affairs boss, was a coincidence. But few doubt that the EU played a big part through the power of its unique tool, enlargement. The promise of EU membership, on condition that Serbia first cooperate with war crimes prosecutors, strengthened the resolve to find Mladic.
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Even if Brammertz says Serbia has more to do (Goran Hadzic, former leader of the Croatian Serbs, is still at large), Serbia will probably win EU candidate status this year. Whether it can start talks immediately (i.e., in early 2012) or, more likely, be asked to do more homework first will depend on how far Tadic pushes judicial reform and reconciliation with Kosovo. Montenegro, already a candidate, may also be deemed fit to begin accession talks. Senior Eurocrats cling to the hope that this month's election in Macedonia will produce a government able to end the tedious dispute with Greece over the country's official name, clearing the way for talks to begin. Bosnia might look less dire if Serbia moves closer to Europe. Even Albania, denied candidate status because of its democratic failings, still sees the EU as its destination.
10.10.09: Poland ratifies Lisbon Treaty as Czech cloud hangs overhead - 0 views
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Polish President Lech Kaczynski at noon on Saturday (10 October) signed the Lisbon Treaty at a ceremony in Warsaw. But Czech head of state Vaclav Klaus put a dampener on the occasion with attempts to revive World War Two-era tensions from his castle in Prague.
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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
22.10.09: EC recommends Macedonia start EU negotiations (SETimes.com) - 0 views
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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".
26.11.09: Rehn's final advice: 'No discount' on enlargement - 0 views
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The European Parliament held a heated debate yesterday (25 November) on future EU enlargement but also offered congratulations to Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who is expected to take a different portfolio in the Barroso II team.
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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.
Vojislav Šešelj - Führer der rechts außen stehenden SRS - 1 views
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Inhaltsverzeichnis [Verbergen] 1 Akademische Ausbildung 2 Šešeljs Inhaftierungen 3 Gründung der Serbischen Radikalen Partei 4 Rolle während der Milošević-Regierung 5 Zusammenarbeit mit Führern anderer rechtsextremer Parteien 6 Politische Erfolge 7 Anklage wegen Kriegsverbrechen 8 Privates 9 Zitate 10 Weblinks
31.03.11: EU enlargement fatigue is myth, MPs are told - 3 views
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Fule called on the Serbian authorities to increase their efforts in conducting the reforms necessary to get a positive opinion on Serbia's EU membership application.
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He named eight priorities in the process: justice reform, fight against organized crime and corruption, changes to electoral legislation, making sure regulatory bodies function efficiently, property rights, human rights, regional cooperation and cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
22.06.11: EU hopes Croatia can be lesson to Balkans and West - 18 views
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BRUSSELS, June 22 (Reuters) - After years of ambivalence about new members, European Union policymakers are hoping Croatia's accession to the 27-nation bloc will persuade other aspirants that democratic reforms reap dividends. The ambition is that Croatia's progress will show the western Balkans that the EU is still willing to grow and quell concerns that "enlargement fatigue" -- rife since the global economic crisis made Europeans wary about the cost of expansion -- means reform efforts are futile.
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But Zagreb may now be days away from completing its entry talks and EU leaders are set to give a go-ahead to its accession at a summit on Thursday and Friday. EU officials say the leap was made possible by an intense reform push that proved the country of 4.4 million people was serious about fighting widespread corruption.
21.06.11: Montenegro 'could start EU membership talks soon' - 18 views
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The Hungarian Presidency of the European Union is committed to giving a new impetus to the EU enlargement process and ihopes that a decision will be reached as early as this year on starting EU accession negotiations with Montenegro, Hungary's minister of state for foreign affairs Zsolt Németh said on June 21 2011.Németh was speaking at a news conference after the second meeting of the Stabilisation and Association Council(SAA) held between the EU and Montenegro in Luxembourg.
20.06.11: Füle shows Macedonia yellow card - 31 views
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In an unprecedented move, Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle has warned Macedonia that the country could lose its EU candidate status if no progress is made on the path to reform and if the EU hopeful keeps on taking actions considered by Greece as "provocations".
The warning came in a TV interview given by Füle to Macedonian TV channel A1, one of the few media outlets with a critical voice and which the government is reportedly trying to silence.
Füle was asked to comment on the decision by Nikola Gruevski's government to erect a statue of a 'warrior on horseback' resembling Alexander the Great in the centre of Skopje, which has sparked fury in Greece. Over the weekend, the 12-meter high statue was finally assembled.
The commissioner said that not only in bilateral affairs, but also in normal life any person should avoid doing things seen by its neighbour as a provocation.
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