Tag: Western Balkans

The number of Syrian asylum-seekers to the EU soared 206% to 24,110 last year, overtaking Afghanistan refugees as the largest group of applicants asking for international protection.

Enlargement of the EU may not be in the spotlight these days, but with Croatia joining the EU on Monday and the door opening further to eventual Serbian membership, there is a lot happening, writes Dimitar Bechev.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is falling behind on commitments to human rights and the rule of law, making its chances of joining the European Union increasingly remote, according to EU officials and lawmakers.

Ivica Dačić and Hashim Thaći, the prime ministers of Serbia and Kosovo, are due to meet today (19 February) under the auspices of EU’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, to continue discussions on their future relations and to exchange envoys. EurActiv Germany reports.

The fight against corruption is one of the key conditions for Serbia's EU integration and one of the current government's priorities. Serbian authorities on 12 December arrested one of the richest people the country in a crackdown on graft, writes EurActiv Serbia.

EU ministers will not grant Albania the EU candidate status at next week's meeting, diplomatic sources told EurActiv. However, they will likely give the green light to opening accession negotiations with Serbia, if a number of conditions are respected, such as improving relations with  Kosovo.

Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle told the representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo yesterday (27 November) that they have not been able to honour their main commitments for the country’s progress towards EU integration.  

MEPs and local NGOs worry that that the European Commission is bypassing civil society and environmental rules as it devises an energy strategy for the Western Balkan region.

SPECIAL REPORT / Governments' inability to address energy poverty in Southeastern Europe is increasing the threat of deforestation, as illegal timbering is seen by needy people as their only chance for survival through harsh winters.

Turkey and the Western Balkan countries require practical integration measures to bridge the gap in the European Union's enlargement process, say Andrea Despot, Dušan Reljić, and Günter Seufert from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP).

The EU has gained valuable experience in recent years in achieving visa-free travel for the citizens living in its neighbourhood. After the countries of the Western Balkans, the next on their way toward achieving visa-free travel are its eastern partners, with Russia, Ukraine and Moldova leading the way. However, this goal is unlikely to be achieved in the short term.

A violent standoff in northern Kosovo risks halting its fragile dialogue with Serbia, and the latter's EU candidacy process, says the International Crisis Group.

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".

With Croatia, set to join the EU in December, tiny Montenegro got the green light today (12 October) to open accession negotiations, the European Commission unveiled in its yearly Enlargement package. The move is seen as a way to keep accession alive as Macedonia and Serbia stumble over conditions.

The European Commission said it will propose tomorrow (24 May) to reintroduce visas for Western Balkan countries whose citizens abuse the system.

The European Union's envoy to the Balkans criticised plans for a referendum on the legality of Bosnia's national court, saying the "irresponsible" vote would widen divisions in the fragile nation.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, to protest against the EU's law enforcement mission Eulex, which was recently behind the arrest of Kosovar rebels for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 war of secession from Serbia.

The socialist opposition in EU candidate country Macedonia has announced it is leaving the country's parliament, in protest against a move by the centre-right government to block the bank accounts of several media companies.

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha yesterday (17 January) appointed Nasip Naco as economy minister, after Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Meta's resignation on Friday. Meta said he wanted to fight allegations of corruption, after the release of a videotape appearing to show him lobbying for favours.

Montenegro’s Prime Minister Milo Djukanović, a controversial figure suspected of ties with organised crime, is set to resign today (21 December), in a move expected to help his country’s EU integration.

The situation in the Western Balkans has never been better and there are signs of progress in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where competition between the entities could be used positively if it is accompanied by political will, Valentin Inzko, EU High Representative and Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), told EurActiv.de in an interview.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi claimed victory in Kosovo's first general election since independence on 12 December after exit polls put his PDK party well ahead.

Many Serbs feel they are superior in South Eastern Europe and feel offended that Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union first, Hungarian centre-right MEP György Schöpflin (European People's Party), shadow rapporteur on Serbia, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.

The EU yesterday (8 November) lifted visa requirements for citizens from Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, an unprecedented monitoring mechanism has been set up which could reintroduce visas for several Western Balkan countries should difficulties arise.