Croatia moves closer to concluding EU accession talks

Croatia took a significant step towards concluding its EU accession process by closing three more negotiating chapters during a recent enlargement conference in Brussels. Finalised negotiations on the environment, justice and security, and foreign, security and defence policy mean that 28 chapters have now been closed in total. Croatia has closed three more chapters, moving it closer to becoming an EU member.

Both the EU and Croatia aim to conclude the talks in the first half of next year and to sign the accession treaty in autumn, although the EU has refused to set a date for Croatia to join.Enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele said he recognised there was "a goal to conclude accession talks during the Hungarian EU presidency". But he warned there was still work to be done in Croatia to meet the remaining benchmarks, as well as in the EU where the accession treaty must be prepared for signing and ratification. According to Mr Fuele, 2010 has been a successful year for negotiations with Zagreb as 11 chapters have been closed.

The EU has taken an increasingly cautious approach to further enlargement. Some new mechanisms in the negotiation process with candidate countries have been installed, with Croatia and Turkey the first to be subjected to the new rules. The rules were intended to enhance "credibility" said Mr Fuele, who specifically mentioned the introduction of opening benchmarks (candidate countries have to meet certain criteria even before they can open a chapter) and the requirement of a positive "track record" as a condition for a chapter to be closed. Croatia has reached the final stage of accession talks after more than five years of negotiations, but some difficult decisions still lie ahead. The country still needs to restructure its shipyard industry and continue to fight against corruption at all levels; these will be the two key issues over the next few months.

Mr Fuele rejected suggestions that corruption at the highest political levels threatened to destabilise the country. "That dilemma does not exist since Croatia is a developed democracy where the relevant authorities can do their job independently," he said. Croatia's foreign minister Gordan Jandrokovic said legal action against former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader and other senior politicians showed Croatia's determination to fight corruption at all levels. "This will not undermine Croatia's democracy but strengthen it," he said. Seven chapters of the Croatian talks remain to be closed; one relating to 'other issues' is a formal procedure without actual negotiations. Hungary, which will chair the EU Council of Ministers during the first half of next year, has made the conclusion of accession talks with Croatia one of its priorities.

News source: waz.euobserver.com link: article

Kosovo talks should end in mutual recognition

"Kosovo is ready for negotiations with Serbia," Priština-based Albanian language daily Koha Ditore reported on Wednesday. "From its standpoint the dialogue is a process whose ultimate end should be the mutual recognition of Kosovo and Serbia, and their accession in the EU," writes the newspaper.

The daily claims that since the International Court of Justice delivered its advisory opinion on the Kosovo Albanian UDI, "numerous meetings have been held between representatives of the civic society and international community". "They were organized on the initiative of the Kosovo Foundation for Open Society (KFOS) and the Foreign Policy Club (KPJ) with the aim of formulating consensual platform for talks with Belgrade," the daily adds.

"During the consultations so far, the Kosovo side agreed that talks with Belgrade should be divided into three stages: a preliminary phase or phase without status, a mid-phase or phase with neutral status and a final phase or phase with status," continues the article. "The three stages of the talks will make it possible for Kosovo and Serbia to overcome the existing practical problems and normalize their relations. At the end of the process they will recognize each other and become EU member states," the daily says, specifying Priština's plan for dialogue with Belgrade.

News source: B92 link: article

Kosovo's Visa Liberalisation On Hold

The European Commission has revealed that it is not ready to start negotiations with Kosovo over visa liberalisation because Pristina does not have a reintegration package for its returnees. The news comes the day after Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina were confirmed by the European Union's Council of Ministers as the latest members of the white Schengen list, which grants their citizens visa-free travel across much of the EU. The announcement contradicts statements made by Ulrike Lunacek, Rapporteur on Kosovo to the European Parliament, who told Balkan Insight last month that the European Commission, EC, would open formal talks in the “coming weeks”.

Michele Cercone, spokesperson for the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, confirmed to Balkan Insight on Monday that authorities in Pristina were not ready to start the visa dialogue. He stressed that the EC would be ready to start the dialogue with Kosovo once Pristina's authorities proved they have a re-integration strategy for the returnees.

“To my knowledge there has been no promise to do something or a deadline to do something,” Cercone said. Kosovo’s parliament has already adopted a re-admission law, which helps paves the way to start visa dialogue, and has signed a number of re-admission agreements with EU members, so that Kosovars living illegally in these countries can be returned home.

But concern has been raised about the return of Roma from Kosovo, in particular. Both the European Parliament and Council of Europe have attacked Germany's planned return of 10,000 Roma to Kosovo, especially because of the incredibly high unemployment rates among that community. Delays to Kosovo's progress towards the EU at the same time as its neighbours, Albania and Bosnia Herzegovina, take an important step forward will entrench views that the world's youngest country is becoming a ghetto.

This view was confirmed to Balkan Insight last month by Green MEP Lunacek. “Kosovo has just two million people so it would be ridiculous to leave them out and it would affect the democratisation process,” she said. “We cannot leave two million people outside.” The EC's 2010 progress report for Kosovo shows more progress compared to last year’s, But serious concern remains about the lack of forward movement in the fight against corruption and in the protection of media rights. The EC will publish the annual assessment of the western Balkan countries on Tuesday, known as the progress report.

News source: BalkanInsight link: article