Tag: Montenegro

Montenegro's ruling party leader Milo Djukanović claimed victory in a parliamentary election yesterday (14 October), extending his DPS party's 23-year old rule in the ex-Yugoslav republic as it starts European Union accession talks.

Even in times of crisis, nine European countries strive to join the EU. It would be an “enormous mistake” if the Union would lose interest in expansion, Štefan Füle told EurActiv Czech Republic in an exclusive interview.

Croatia signed its accession treaty today (9 December) in a surrealistic atmosphere of uncertainty over the fate of the European Union. But as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, the event showed that even under the difficult circumstances, the EU had lost "none of its attractiveness".

The European Union should adopt a "regatta" approach to membership hopefuls in the Western Balkans as a competitive race for accession should spur reforms in the countries concerned, argues Bojan Sarkic, a former senior Montenegrin diplomat.

The European Union is likely to grant Montenegro candidate status in November but defer opening entry talks with the ex-Yugoslav state as a result of corruption and slow democratic reform, an EU official revealed yesterday (27 October).

Montenegro expects to gain European Union candidate status in November and to start accession talks soon, its prime minister said on 8 October. The European Commission is set to present its opinion on Montenegro's readiness to acquire candidate status next month.

Despite problems with corruption and organised crime, Montenegro, a small Adriatic country with a population of less than a million, is set to open EU membership talks as early as 2011.

Although Montenegro's recognition of Kosovo divided opinion and was ''emotionally painful'' for neighbouring Serbia, it made the decision for the stability and European future of the region, Vladimir Radulović, Montenegro's ambassador to Germany, told EurActiv.de in an interview.

Although many of its citizens still feel very strong ties to Serbia and the former Yugoslavia, Montenegro had to ''regain'' independence in order to preserve its European future, Vladimir Radulović, the ambassador of Montenegro to Germany, told EurActiv.de in an interview.

Since its declaration of independence in 2006, Montenegro has made considerable progress towards EU integration and the country's use of the euro has helped it become economically stable and attractive to investors, Zdeněk Sychra, a European studies expert at Masaryk University, told EurActiv Czech Republic in an interview.

By the end of 2011, under the Polish EU Presidency, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Kosovo should all receive EU candidate status, a policy paper by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) advocates.

Hungary, the largest investor in Montenegro, is supporting the country's accession to the European Union. The integration into the EU of the Western Balkans is a top priority of the Hungarian government and its EU presidency in early 2011 will be a prime opportunity to promote the Montenegrin cause. EurActiv Hungary reports.

Montenegro's use of the euro despite it not being in the euro zone means that bank notes are accumulated from outside the country, making it ''very easy'' for organised criminals based there to launder money, UK Conservative MEP Charles Tannock told EurActiv in an interview.

Serbia, the 'core country' of the former Yugoslavia, is now firmly on track to join the EU after a series of fratricidal wars in the nineties tested the international community's resolve and engaged considerable diplomatic and military resources.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday (19 January) agreed on a two-year programme of €2.65 million to boost macro- and micro-prudential supervision in the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Bilateral issues are creating tension ahead of a crucial meeting today (7 December) of EU foreign affairs ministers, MEP Eduard Kukan, who was Slovakia's foreign minister for over eight years, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

With EU hopefuls ranging from Iceland to Kosovo and Turkey, the European Commission's latest enlargement strategy, published yesterday (14 October), appears to step back from previous policies by looking at each applicant according to its own merits.

The European Commission is due to offer visa-free travel to the citizens of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro this week, triggering criticism of the plan's alleged inconsistencies and bias against Muslim minorities in the Western Balkans.

Italian investors are ready to invest up to five billion euros in energy projects and infrastructure in Montenegro, the Italian minister for economic development, Claudio Scajola, said on 16 June.

Montenegro may begin accession talks with the EU in 2010, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek announced after talks with his Montenegrin counterpart Milo Djukanovic in Podgorica yesterday (11 March). At the same time, the Netherlands' foreign minister said in the Hague that such a move would be premature.

As EU leaders prepare to discuss further enlargement at a summit today (12 December), Montenegro announced its intention to apply for membership next week. Meanwhile, the European Commission is "mentally preparing" for a possible application by Iceland as early as next year, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.

Incumbent Filip Vujanovic claimed victory after Sunday's (6 April) first presidential elections in Montenegro since the Balkan country declared its independence from Serbia in May 2006, in a vote seen as supportive of Vujanovic's desire for further EU integration.

It is the people of the Western Balkans themselves who hold the key to the region's future, according to research carried out by the University of Trier for its project for the website 'Deutsche Aussenpolitik'.

One of the EU's latest newcomers, Bulgaria, is threatening to block an association agreement with Montenegro over a language row concerning the spelling of the euro in Cyrillic ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting next week.