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The decision was taken on Tuesday morning after Belgium and the Netherlands agreed to sign the SAA.

They yielded to the pressure of other EU states – who have been prepared to sign the agreement for weeks - on condition that Serbia will not get any concrete benefits from the agreement until Belgrade is judged as fully cooperating with the ICTY. Normally, ratification of such documents is launched immediately after they are signed.

The Balkans country is engulfed in a bitter dispute over today’s election, which will determine whether it moves a step closer to EU membership, writes Tom Lynch.

ronically, perhaps the only consensus between Serbia’s political parties is that they all agree Kosovo should remain part of Serbia.Serbia is classified as a Potential Candidate Country by the EU, meaning that the EU recognises that Serbia will eventually join, once it is ready.On April 29, 2008, the EU signed the Stability and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia. The SAA is the first step on the road to EU membership, and also guarantees certain benefits - in the form of EU funding and trade liberalisation.In an added incentive, 16EUmember states have also offered visa-free travel for Serbian people.The agreement was pushed through, despite some members’ opposition, to counter the growing popularity of the nationalist Serbian Radical Party and New Serbia Party, and the overarching fear that Serbia might turn its back on the EU.The SAA will not come into force until Serbia arrests and hands over Ratko Mladiæ , former chief of staff of the Bosnian Serb army - who is wanted over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre - to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, so it does not represent much of a real breakthrough. This has long been a sticking point in the EU-Serbia negotiations.

In this issue Enlargement high on EU agenda for 2008 too Mixed reception for Albanian local elections Turkey's pension reform is "in the right direction" Strategy for civil society in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia EU support for upgrading Albania’s civil registration Helping Bosnia and Herzegovina in communications regulation Serbian wine sector gets EU assistance Discussions start in Vienna on Kosovo settlement proposal Cooperation in south east Europe border security Croatia in media freedom spotlight Student grant database for South-East Europe Positive prospects for Turkey and Western Balkans

In this issue > Croatia's progress measured at SAA Council Wallström visits Turkey for Women's Day EU awaits Serbia's new government Kosovo status discussions to move to New York Bosnia and Herzegovina to remain under surveillance Montenegro comes closer to EU EU assistance to Albanian justice system Improving policing of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Hopes of Cyprus breakthrough from a breach in a wall Rehn reminds the EU of its power to act EU foreign affairs ministers extend backing for ICTY "Boost EU commitment to Western Balkans", says paper Stability Pact successor takes shape EU Presidency comments on the ICJ Balkan genocide judgement

EU summit backs enlargement strategy European Union leaders gave their full backing to the enlargement strategy at their summit in Brussels on December 14. They looked forward to further rounds of accession negotiations with Turkey and Croatia before the end of the year. They confirmed the EU's vital role in assuring stability in the Western Balkans, and agreed to send an ESDP mission to Kosovo. And they agreed precise terms for the reflection group on the long-term future of Europe. This final issue for 2007 of Enlargement News provides highlights from the European Council, as well an update on other key enlargement-related developments. In this issue Endorsement for the enlargement strategy EU willing to send mission to Kosovo Progress on Turkey's accession negotiations Western Balkans "belong in the EU" Serbia invited to make "rapid progress" to EU Croatia "on track" towards EU membership SAA initialled with Bosnia and Herzegovina Albania makes progress, but governance and rule of law require further efforts The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia must accelerate the pace of reform Montenegro entering "critical phase" Limited remit for Reflection Group EU allocates pre-accession assistance to candidate countries Rehn contrasts past and present of EU foreign and security policy Turkish Students win trip to EU

11 March 2008 Brussels _ The European Union has urged Bosnian authorities to "make further efforts" if the country is to sign a key agreement with Brussels next month. A meeting of EU Foreign Ministers urged that, "important underlying problems remain and called upon all parties in Bosnia to work together in order to overcome them as soon as possible.”

“I trust the country will be able to settle the remaining problems so it can achieve the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, SAA, in April,” he added. The EU's Council of Ministers, too, concluded that Bosnia has made progress with regards to the SAA, and reiterated its full support to Sarajevo's European perspective.

“The Council welcomed the PIC Steering Board's unanimous decision that the Office of the High Representative (OHR) will remain in place and continue to carry out its mandate under the Dayton Peace Agreement until necessary objectives and conditions as set out in the PIC Steering Board Declaration are met,” it was concluded.

EU officials on Wednesday hailed Bosnia's adoption of long-disputed police reforms, saying it opened the way for the Baltic state to sign the first accord on the way to European Union membership. "I welcome the final adoption of the police reform laws, which paves the way towards signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA)," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement. The SAA trade and aid pact "will not only bring practical benefits in trade and thus for the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but it is also the gateway towards candidate country status for EU accession," Rehn added.

Earlier Wednesday lawmakers in Bosnia's upper house definitively adopted the police reforms, removing the last hurdle for the country to sign the key pact on closer EU ties. Two police reform bills passed by 10 to four votes, ending years of dispute among Bosnia's Croat, Muslim and Serb leaders about the extent to which they should integrate the country's separate ethnic police forces. The lower house of the Bosnian parliament approved the reforms last week.

Montenegro takes first step towards EU membership[fr][de]  Published: Tuesday 16 October 2007 The EU and Montenegro have signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), boosting the former Yugoslav state's hopes of becoming a full EU member. Related: LinksDossier:   EU-Western Balkans relations News:   Bulgaria rows with Montenegro over euro notes spelling Brief News: The signing of the SAA and the so-called Interim Agreement took place on Monday (15 October) at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

Serbia has overcome another hurdle on its path towards EU membership with today's (9 September) ratification by its parliament of a key pre-accession agreement offering the country closer trade relations and easier travel within the Union.

140 deputies from the 250-seat parliament voted in favour of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), with 26 rejecting it. This means that at least 13 members of the opposition - likely members of the Liberal block, who support EU membership and for this goal would even sacrifice Kosovo - joined the government on this issue.The biggest opposition group, the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), collectively abstained. 

After meeting Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Ivica Dačić in Brussels yesterday (9 February), Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn advised Belgrade not to rush with its formal application for EU membership, admitting that the political climate is not good for enlargement.

With the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) not yet having entered into force, the European Commission considers membership application as premature, the commissioner explained.  Serbia ratified the agreement last September (EurActiv 09/09/08), but on the EU side, the same process is on hold, as the Netherlands wants the country to "fully cooperate" with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. In other words, The Hague first wants war criminal Ratko Mladic to be captured and brought to justice.  In a significant shift of vocabulary, Rehn even refrained from referring to the EU's 'enlargement policy', instead preferring the expression "EU policy for stabilisation and societal progress in the Western Balkans". He said this is because the political context in the EU is not favourable to enlargement at present. 

Despite its steady opposition to the EU's policy on Kosovo, the largest country in the Balkans will continue its move towards EU membership, Serbia's foreign minister Vuc Jeremic told his EU counterparts at their informal meeting in Brdo last weekend (28-29 March).

Much will depend on the forthcoming elections in Serbia on 11 May, he added, describing them as "a critical battle for the European souls of the Western Balkans". 

Underlining his country's EU commitment, Jeremic said that the Serbian government was ready to sign the SAA "immediately" and continue moving forward rapidly. This step, in addition to an agreement over a road map for the adoption of a visa-free regime, could help counter Serbian concerns fostered by uncertainty over Kosovo, Jeremic suggested.  The Netherlands and Belgium remain opposed to signing an SAA with Serbia before it hands over the former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic to the court in The Hague.  Jeremic said that "we are very much aware of our obligations to the ICTY," adding that "the only way we'll be able to finish what we started […] is to keep building Serbia's road to Europe".

SARAJEVO -- EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn says Bosnia could sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) in April.

Rehn added that he believed in Bosnia-Hercegovina’s European future, and that signing the agreement was possible if all the established criteria were met. “Bosnia-Hercegovina has a clear EU future with the remaining west Balkan states. That is a process during which every country must individually meet political and economic criteria for membership and adopt all the Union’s laws,“ he told daily Dnevni Avaz.

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".

The EU on Monday (26 May) admitted there may be some delays in the deployment of its mission to Kosovo, but insisted they would not be "dramatic."

But question marks over the divisions of power between the UN, the EU and the local authorities, as well as over the mission's legal basis, seem likely to delay the process. "I believe EULEX could be operative on the field after the summer – September and October," Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said after a meeting of the EU's foreign ministers in Brussels, according to Reuters.

Bosnia to sign pre-accession deal in June On Monday, the bloc's foreign ministers also announced that a pre-accession deal with Bosnia and Herzegovina would be signed on 16 June, after a two-month delay mainly due to translation issues.

Serbia achieved a long proclaimed foreign policy goal earlier this week when it signed a pre-membership pact with the European Union in Luxembourg.But though this was declared a priority when the isolationist rule of Slobodan Milosevic ended in 2000, both the content and the timing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has brought deep controversy.

Some leaders have seen the agreement as triumph. "This is a historic moment for Serbia," foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said after deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic signed the SAA with the EU's enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and foreign ministers of all 27 EU nations. Jeremic and Djelic belong to the Democratic Party (DS) of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who also attended the ceremony. The DS was part of the coalition government led by conservative outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). The DSS wants all ties with nations that recognised Kosovo to be cut. Besides the 17 EU countries, that would mean also the United States and other countries.

According to EU diplomats, the Netherlands is under pressure from other EU countries to drop its opposition to the signing of a pre-accession Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia, in a bid to boost the pro-European camp ahead of the parliamentary elections on 11 May.

The Netherlands objects to signing the SAA with Serbia if Belgrade does not "fully cooperate" with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The conditions include the handover of General Ratko Mladic and former political leader Radovan Karadzic to the Hague tribunal of war criminals. Serbia denies both men are on its territory. 

The Dutch position can be partly explained by the fact the country is hosting the ICTY. But it is also due to bad memories from the recent past. The Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia in 1995, when an estimated 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by the army of Republika Srpska and other paramilitary units, took place despite the presence of 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers in the area.

The upper house of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) state-level parliament adopted two police reform laws Wednesday (April 16th), opening the door for the country's Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU.

They finally accepted a compromise proposal offered by High Representative Miroslav Lajcak and envisioning the creation of seven state-level co-ordination bodies that will assume authority over the country's ethnically divided police forces within a year after the adoption of constitutional reform. Favouring more centralisation of police, the ruling Bosniak Party of Democratic Action and the Serb Democratic Party are criticising the legislation, claiming it offers only "cosmetic" changes that will not improve security in BiH.

The European Union is racing against time -- and some of its own member states -- to create incentives for Serbian voters to choose a Western future when they go to the polls for parliamentary elections on May 11. The EU, whose image was tarnished in the eyes of many Serbs when most members backed Kosovo's independence, is dangling the prospect of future membership to Serbia. But Brussels is struggling to give the offer a definitive shape. The main problems boil down to two names and one abbreviation -- Kosovo, Mladic, and an SAA.

Wish List The speaker of the Serbian parliament, Oliver Dulic, who was in Brussels last week, handed the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee a detailed wish list. The pro-European politicians whom Dulic represents want the EU to sign an SAA with Serbia by the end of this month, give it candidate status by the end of the year, ease visa restrictions by early 2009, and launch accession talks with Serbia in the second half of 2009. Dulic says such tangible offers could sway Serbian voters on May 11. He said the EU must err on the side of generosity, if anything, to compensate for a feeling in Serbia that the country is always fated to get the sharp end of the stick.