Western Balkans
The Balkans are struggling in the past years to recover from the devastating wars that accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia and to direct their efforts toward integration in the Euro-Atlantic structures. At the moment neither the European Union nor NATO or the US are capable of paying as much attention as they did in the 90s. This to a large extent means that the countries from the region have to deal on their own with difficult problems, additionally being complicated by the tough economic atmosphere not only in Europe but globally too. euinside thinks that the region needs special attention and this is why we dedicate this subject to the most important things that are taking place in the region.
Bakir Izetbegovic, Andrej Plenkovic | © Council of the EUIn Sofia, EU Closed the Door to Enlargement but Left Money and Instructions
Some say that the EU-Western Balkans summit was a historic one. Others say it was successful. Without necessarily both claims to be false, their validity is wrong. It is explained that the summit was historic because it was the first in 15 years. The last summit with the Western Balkans (in the ...
Aleksandar Vucic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan | © Serbian PresidencySerbia between the Past and the Present in Its Draft National Security Strategy
Against the backdrop of the incessant provocations of Serbia's Defence Minister Alexander Vulin to neighbouring countries, and especially Croatia, the draft [in Serbian language] of a new national security strategy, published for public discussion by his ministry, makes an unsuccessful ...
Jean-Claude Juncker, Zoran Zaev | © European CommissionJuncker's Tour of the Western Balkans - Breaking the Ice
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's tour of the six Western Balkan countries in end-February has revealed how late the EU is, how much it missed, and how little it does for a region which emerged in the past years as strategically crucial for the Union. The aim of the visit was t ...
Johannes Hahn | © European CommissionBrussels Finally Got the Western Balkans by the Horns
For the first time, the vision of the European Union for future enlargements acquires a complete and comprehensive look. The strategy outlined on February 6 is the first truly meaningful document that finally made a link between expanding outward and absorbing it inside. The document is as targe ...
| © Bulgarian Council PresidencyEU's Western Balkan Dilemma - the Trickiest Task in 2018
Last year (2017) was not the year of the Western Balkans, as analyses can be read. This was the year of the EU's awakening to this volatile region in its immediate neighbourhood, and the realisation that it is of strategic importance to member states in time of a renewed geopolitical r ...
| © DWNotes on Three Interviews about Bosnia and Herzegovina
If you want to understand what is wrong in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it could help you watch consecutively the series of interviews which Deutsche Welle journalists, Zorica Ilic and Bahri Cena, made this month with the leaders of the three main ethnic groups in the Dayton country - Dragan Covic (o ...
Mimoza Ahmetaj | © Mimoza AhmetajElections in Germany and Their Impact on the Western Balkans
The elections in Germany confirmed the victory of the CDU-CSU coalition, albeit with less votes than in past elections. Obviously, the result will not undermine Germany's role in Europe and in the Balkans, neither Chancellor Angela Merkel's position. The Chancellor remains a significant figure t ....jpg "Johannes Hahn, Aleksandar Vucic | © European Commission")
Johannes Hahn, Aleksandar Vucic | © European CommissionEU Expects Trouble Coming From Catalonia, But Real Danger Comes From The Balkans
The EU is watching with some concern the developments of the situation in Spain, created by the desire of Catalonia to declare independence, as it could shake the Union in two separate directions - economic and political. A possible secession of the rich Spanish province could cause serious quak ...
Aleksandar Vucic | © SNSVučić Can be Trusted as Much as Putin
While Western media continue to praise Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić for starting an internal Serbian dialogue about Kosovo, calling him "the Serbian Willy Brandt", the clever former Milošević information minister opens up a new front line of tension in the much suffered region of th ...
Mogherini, Zvizdic | © Council of the EUEnlargement's Return From the Dead?
Over the past two to three months, a major change is observed in the dynamics of the enlargement process, putting an end to the rather bleak forecasts regarding the European prospects and the stability of the turbulent region of the Western Balkans ... for now. What is new? Macedonia i ...
| © European CommissionThe Berlin Process - the Good Cop of the Balkans' European Integration
The long-awaited EU summit with the six countries of the Western Balkans - Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Kosovo - in the Italian city of Trieste on July 12 ended with several important messages not only to the countries of the still too turbulent p ...
Aleksandar Vucic, Donald Tusk | © Council of the EUTime for Serbia to Make a Genuine Choice
Who could have guessed that all the hoorah about Serbian Prime Minister Anna Brnabić's statement in an interview for Bloomberg that if she had to make the decision, Serbia would choose the EU over Russia, is actually a preparation for the real decision-making!? 11 days after the interv ...
Zoran Zaev, Johannes Hahn | © European CommissionThe Summer of Balkan Hopes
The grand event for the Western Balkans this year is the summit of the Berlin Process countries in the Italian city of Trieste on 12 July. In recent months, expectations have been seriously pumped up that this meeting will provide a major boost to the European integration of the region ...
| © Council of the EUEU Expects the Impossible from Bosnia and Herzegovina
On the eve of the 22nd anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, with close to zero media interest, the second Stabilisation and Association Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the participation of the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security, Federica Mogherini, Bosnia and Herz ...
| © NATO Enlargement in Times of Geopolitical Cholera
Do you remember that scene at the NATO summit on May 25 when US President Donald Trump arrogantly pushed aside Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković to stand in front? This was the most shared video of that day and is the best illustration of the enlargement of the Pact, which officia ...
Johannes Hahn, Zoran Zaev | © SDSMIs Crisis in Macedonia Coming to an End?
At long last there are some good news coming from the Western Balkans, shaken in recent months by a constant rise in tensions, renewed sabre rattling, readiness for new interethnic conflicts and, of course, with Russia's helpful role. Macedonian President Georgi Ivanov has finally handed op ...
Hashim Thaci, Donald Tusk | © Council of the EUEnver Hoxhaj: Dialogue with Belgrade Is Useless if it Does Not Lead to Mutual Recognition
The Balkans are in a limbo, Serbia is an extension of Russia, Kosovo has the most stable political landscape, the dialogue with Belgrade must move towards mutual recognition, the crisis in Macedonia is an internal problem. These are in brief the positions of Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Ho ...
Aleksandar Vucic | © SNSA Putin or Erdoğan Scenario for Serbia After the Elections?
The big news of the presidential elections in Serbia is that now there is opposition. After five years reign of Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), the opposition was virtually gone. It was divided into dozens of parties and movements with different ideologies - from ultra- ...
Federica Mogherini | © European CommissionEU Is Trying To Restart the European Integration of the Western Balkans
There is some good news and some bad news for the Western Balkans in the past few weeks. The good news is that the European Union has finally come to realise that there is something rotten in the Balkans and has matured to a change in the narrative. The bad news is this is too late and ...
David McAllister | © European ParliamentThere Is a Serious Crisis of Democracy in the Western Balkans Region
A long delayed discussion took place in the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee about the tensions in the Western Balkans region, which have been growing for months now, but with the start of the new year the situation deteriorated dramatically. The discussi ...
| © BlicCould Russia Recognise Kosovo?
In two consecutive days this week one of the most popular newspapers in Serbia – Blic – runs on its title page the headline that Putin is prepared to recognise Kosovo as a favour to Trump. The newspaper cites Mary Dejevsky – a former correspondent to Moscow and Washington and c ...
| © BlicIs Serbia Preparing for Elections or a New Balance of Powers
The year 2016 marked the rapid deterioration of relations between countries of the Western Balkans, having the most difficult situation be in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the key is held by Serbia. Over the last weeks Belgrade’s tone sharply deteriorated and radicalised, which resonates in ...
Johannes Hahn | © Council of the EUEU Has Lost Its Transformative Power. Enlargement Hits a Dead End
For the first time in the recent history of EU enlargement the year ended without conclusions for the candidate countries. This is one of the biggest news of the December European Council, held on 15 December in Brussels. Traditionally, every December, the leaders of the member states ...
| © Crime Without Punishment - a Contemporary Balkan-Global Novel
The entire wrongness of the modern world is evident on the territory of the former Yugoslavia today. While in Croatia they remember with pride and sadness the battle for Vukovar and tell old and new stories of back then, mentioning Chetniks and Šešelj-ies, on the other side of th ...
| © Is Trump a Product of Democracy, or Tyranny?
Analyses and comments once again prevail in today’s press from the countries of former Yugoslavia. To some, Trump is the harbinger of tyranny, to others – just the opposite. In today’s review you can also read about the visit of the Croatian minister of defence to Bosnia and ...
| © Fear of a Major Shift in Geopolitics Reigns in the Balkans Following Trump's Win
Media in the countries of the former Yugoslavia continue to analyse the results of the presidential elections in the USA with opinions continuing to vary. In Croatia, the accent is on the expectations for a change in the political map of Europe, while in Serbia predominate analyses that a ...
| © Trump Forebodes the End of Normalcy
The outcome of the US presidential elections continue to be the main topic in media of the countries from the former Yugoslavia. Following the many analyses, Croatian media designate special space to the presidential elections in Bulgaria as well, which are being totally ignored in other countri ...
| © Anxiety in Croatia, Jubilation in Serbia on Trump's Victory
This morning (November 10) the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections is on the front pages of all newspapers in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. Opinions, however, are polarised. All comments in Croatia express concern about the future of the region, while in Serbia the ...
| © War in BiH Continues With Other Means
Winter is coming to the Balkans, judging by the anxiety in media from the former Yugoslavia. The week begins with a multitude of commentaries on the exceedingly serious situation between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, caused by the arrest of ten Croatian veterans in the Bosnian town of Or ...
| © Arrests in BiH - Justice on Demand?
Today’s review of media from the former Yugoslavia is pretty bland, which could just be good news, but it could also be a lull before the storm. The subject of the arrests of ten members of the former Croatian Defence Council (HVO) in Orašje in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday is to ...
| © BiH-Croatia Crisis May Prove Worse than the Serbia-Croatia One
The arrest of ten commanders of the Croatian Defence Army in Orašje has already grown into a scandal which is on the front pages of most Croatian newspapers. Reports on the subject continue to be scarce in Bosnia and Herzegovina itself. The focus in Croatian media today is that, in fact, ...
| © Bosnia Slapped Croatia in the Face
The policy of the new Croatian government regarding Bosnia and Herzegovina got a resounding slap in the face from Sarajevo just two days after the first official visit of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković abroad (to BiH), commented Croatian media. On Monday, two days after the return of the Croati ...
| © The Big (non)Event in Croatia - Kolinda Spoke, but Said Nothing
Greetings from festive Zagreb, where today is a holiday because of All Saints Day! Regardless of the day being a holiday, there is a lot to be found in Croatian media. In today’s edition we are also following who is in opposition to the new/old majority in the Croatian Parliament and we ...
| © Dačić: If We Introduce Sanctions against Russia, We Lose Kosovo
The week on the Balkans begins with several very interesting interviews – with the Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dačić, with Bosnia and Herzegovina President Bakir Izetbegović, and the Serbian university professor Žarko Korać – in additio ...
| © Does Kremlin Finally Have a Man in Croatia?
There numerous subjects in today’s press in the countries of former Yugoslavia, but the most important ones seem to me to be the first foreign visit of the new Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković (to Bosnia and Herzegovina, of course), the ongoing Serbian drama around the Belgrade-Pri ...
| © Is the Priština-Belgrade Dialogue in Danger, and thus Serbia's Negotiations with EU?
Leading subject for Croatian media on Thursday is last Wednesday’s earthquake in Italy, Serbian media continue on the spy affairs, but also on Serbia’s European integration. EU membership is on the cover pages of Macedonian papers as well. Without doubt, the most important subject in ...
| © Milo Is Leaving .... Again
We have singled out several topics in today’s press in the countries of the former Yugoslavia – the Serbian-Croatian spy affair, the Serbian-Montenegrin spy affair, Serbia’s EU membership negotiations, and the formation of a Kosovo army. The subject that troubles the region the ...
| © Vučić Scandalises the Region with Revelations about a Plot against Montenegro
After a short break, we return again to reviewing the press in the countries of former Yugoslavia. Today, we singled out two hot topics – the refugee crisis, which made first page of the Croatian Vecernji list, and the thwarted attempt in Serbia for executing a terrorist attack in Monteneg ...
Milo Djukanovc | © European ParliamentMontenegro Wants to Leave the Balkan Autistic World
The first hearing of a Montenegro Prime Minister in the European Parliament foreign affairs committee transpired with applause and tears. Applauses for the pro-European affiliation of Milo Đukanović, who otherwise has controversial past, as well as present. The tears were for the Monte ...
| © Balkan Media: Orbán’s Referendum Has Failed
Media in the countries of former Yugoslavia are unanimous – Orbán’s referendum has failed. The subject was covered in the larger countries of the region (Serbia and Croatia), while in the smaller ones it is almost non-existent. Croatian daily newspaper Jutarnji list ...
| © "Boris and Nicolas Are Redrawing Europe"
This is the headline of a commentary in today’s edition of the Serbian newspaper Politika. Due to the lack of serious regional and internal scandals, many of the large newspapers in the region are dealing today with … European issues. “Will Europe give birth to its D ...
| © Croatian-Serbian Relations Cannot Stand Even a Movie
The big movie-event of the year in the region is the Croatian film “The Constitution” (original title “Ustav Republike Hrvatske”), the screenplay of which is written by the well-known Croatian writer Ante Tomić and Rajko Grlić. The movie is advertised as “A love sto ...
| © "We Cannot Wash our Hands with the Migrants"
It is the third day after the referendum in the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Media in the region have already returned to national subjects, but the referendum is still the subject of commentaries. Croatian media are fully immersed in the official consultations for the formation of ...
| © Winners and Losers in the Bosnia Referendum
Day two after the referendum in the Serbian part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There is already no trace of tension, sober analyses prevail throughout the region. Croatian Vecernji list published on its front page today 10 questions, following “Dodik’s plebiscite”. Does the succ ...
| © Bosnia Has No Useful Move after the Referendum
The referendum in Republika Srpska of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the leading subject in the countries of the former Yugoslavia’s press this morning. To some it was successful, while others see it as the beginning of many more problems. Most regional media quote the Bosnian newspaper Dnevni ...
| © Will There Be a War in Bosnia and Herzegovina?
It is no longer funny, nor exotic, but very real – there will be a referendum in Republika Srpska (RS) of Bosnia and Herzegovina and this, alas, already brings sabre rattling. Concern is growing in Croatia, but also disappointment with the inactivity of politicians, media hysteria is ...
| © The Balkan Refugee Route Reopened
Croatian media are consumed with anxiety because of the danger of a reopening of the Balkan refugee route. “The Balkan route is being activated” is a headline in today’s edition of Vecernji list. The newspaper reports that it is more and more probable that the Balkans ...
| © Is the End of Hasanbegović Near?
The pebble in the shoe (Zlatko Hasanbegović) of the renewed Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) under the leadership of MEP Andrej Plenković (EPP) is about to be discarded, as is evident from the review of Croatian media from the weekend and today. The technical minister of culture, who has been cau ...
| © Milanović Stepping Down Is a Major Topic in Regional Press
Results of the snap elections in Croatia of September 11 are the leading subject for media in the region of former Yugoslavia. For most media the main piece of news is the announced stepping down of former Prime Minister Zoran Milanović from the leader’s seat in the Social Democratic ...
| © Serbia Creates Ministries of European Integration and Relations with Eurasian Union
Media in Serbia and Croatia this morning are again dealing exclusively with the tension between the two states. The rest of the subjects in today’s press review are the refugee crisis, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia’s European integration. The most interesting subject t ...
| © Restorers of Milošević Are Waiting for EPP Membership
There are various exciting issues in media in the countries of former Yugoslavia – from the upcoming elections in Croatia and Montenegro, through Islam, to relations with Russia. Leading topic for Croatian media yesterday and today is the postponement of the vote on the application of the ...
| © Vučić's Orbánisation
Croatian and Serbian press are paying a lot of attention to the visit of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to Belgrade on Monday. Croatian media quote Mr Orbán in saying that Hungary will not accept anyone and for whatever reason blocking the accession of Serbia to the EU. The ...
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Johannes Hahn, Bert Koenders | © Council of the EUWhat Future for EU Enlargement?
The European Union is gradually coming out of its summer vacation and concentrating its efforts on the upcoming summit of September 16th in Bratislava, during which a vision of the future of the Union needs to get drafted for the times following the June 23rd referendum in Great Britai ...
| © DanasThe "Balkan spy" Affair Pours Fuel to Fire between Serbia and Croatia
A new episode, which could further worsen Serbian – Croatian relations, which have already hit an all-time low since the 1990’s, is the leading subject of Croatian and Serbian media today. Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn joined in the reactions. Today’s ...
| © Serbia's Lack of Position Calms the Region Down
Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić and President Tomislav Nikolić neither backed Milorad Dodik for the referendum in Republika Srpska (RS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, nor did they denounce it. This became clear after their meeting yesterday with Serbian authorities in BiH regarding th ...
| © Everyone in Former Yugoslavia Is Worried about Bosnia and Herzegovina
The Balkans have again turned into a zone of tension and geopolitical competition, so starting today (September 1st) euinside begins doing a media review in the countries of former Yugoslavia. Aleksandar Vučić is again facing a choice – with Russia, or with the EU Start ...
Tonino Picula, Andrej Plenkovic | © euinsideShould BiH Get Special Treatment on Its Way towards EU?
Will Bosnia and Herzegovina ever be able to fulfil the criteria for EU membership without special treatment or a total overhaul of the Dayton peace agreement? This question surfaced during a discussion on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU, organised by the European Parliament&rsqu ...
| © European CommissionCommission Knows Not What To Do with Macedonia
Whatever government is produced by the snap parliamentary elections in Macedonia, it would not be recognised as a credible partner of the international community, because three of the four major political parties in the former Yugoslav republic will not be participating in the elections. This wa ...
Daniel Mitov, Miro Kovac | © euinsideDaniel Mitov: If Serbia Implements Sanctions Against Russia, It Will Speed-up Its European Integration
Croatia is far from being as isolated in its attitude towards Serbia as it was depicted in Croatian and Serbian press until recently. Bulgaria backed the Croatian veto on the opening of Chapter 23 of the negotiations with Serbia. This became clear after the meeting of Bulgarian Foreign ...
Alexandar Vucic | © Council of the EUEU Enlargement Is Going the Route of "Titanic"
The EU’s enlargement policy has turned in recent years from the most successful into the weakest and least perspective community policy. After in the summer of 2013 the EU swallowed the 28th member, the process got stuck in the quagmire of geopolitics, reforms fatigue and the European Un ...
| © ICTYŠešelj's Verdict: Justice in the Time of a Nationalist Rise in Europe
In the very year in which in Germany the ban was lifted off Mein Kampf, in which Adolf Hitler lays out his Nazi ideology and his plans for the future of Germany; when in Europe, for the first time since the Second World War, hate speech, xenophobia, and nationalism, provoked by the refugee ...
| © Karadžić Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison, Reconciliation Still Far Away
Finally! 21 years after the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina one of those most responsible for it – the former leader of Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadžić – was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to a total of 40 years in prison. The ...
Tanja Fajon | © European ParliamentSerbia's EU Path Is a Geostrategic Choice
The start of membership negotiations with Serbia is being welcomed by the MEPs, who are monitoring developments in this extremely important to the enlargement towards the Western Balkans country. At the same time, the large challenges to Serbia itself, as well as for the Euro ...
Cristian Dan Preda | © European ParliamentEurope against Russia in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The parties in power in Bosnia and Herzegovina are fully unanimous on the country’s European perspective and are totally serious in their will to file an application for membership in the European Union. This is what European Parliament’s rapporteur on Bosnia and Herzegovina Cristi ...
Bert Koenders | © Council of the EUKoenders: EU Will Either Export Stability, or Import Instability
A time of reckoning has come for the EU. The Union must show that it is not just an organisation for the good times, but can also cope with the bad times, for the alternative is either the EU will export stability, or import instability. This is what Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders said, wh ...
Jean Asselborn, Igor Luksic | © Council of the EUEU Enlargement Entering Geopolitical Mode
The year 2015 opened new pages in one of the oldest EU community policies – enlargement. This process was thrown in the cellar during the euro area crisis, the war in the Ukraine, and all the problems springing up in the Middle East and North Africa right when it was the turn of the m ...
| © Council of the EUBosnia and Herzegovina Is Back on EU Path, but with Heavy Headwinds
After wasting an entire decade, Bosnia and Herzegovina is finally back on the European path, not thanks to local politicians, nor European politicians and institutions, but to the country’s people, who revolted against the lack of progress and the irreversible process of impoveri ...
Donald Tusk, Alksandar Vucic | © Council of the EUThe Serbia Challenge
Serbia is a major challenge to EU enlargement. It is ruled by a government, which is a serious hindrance to the reconciliation process because of a differing appraisal of events from the last 25 years. This became clear once more during the historic visit of the Secretary General of NATO to Be ...
| © Predsjednica RHCroatia Suggests Dropping the Term "Western Balkans"
Nearly a year after her winning the elections, Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović scores her first big foreign affairs success. It happened at the summit of the Brdo-Brijuni Process states in Zagreb on November 25th, which had American Vice-President Joe Biden as a guest of ho ...
Johannes Hahn | © European CommissionEnlargement Process is not Frozen but Freezing
At the time around the formation of the new European Commission there was constant talk that enlargement was going to be frozen. The reason being that at the time of his election President Jean-Claude Juncker stated that by the end of the Commission’s term (2019) there would be n ...
Vladimir Putin, Alexander Vucic | © The KremlinIs There an Arms Race Coming to the Balkans?
That is the question that many are asking themselves in Croatia after the surprising messages by Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić from Moscow this week. He travelled to the Russian capital only two days after participating in the first of its kind summit of countries along the W ...
| © European CommissionIt's the Bilateral Relations, Stupid!
Despite leaving a very bad aftertaste, the second Western Balkans summit held in Vienna last week actually turned out to be quite successful because it brought out the real problems faced by European integration of the Western Balkan countries, namely bilateral disputes and the re ...
| © European CommissionRefugees - the Unwanted Topic at Western Balkans Summit
The refugee crisis overshadowed Germany’s effort to show leadership in the integration of Western Balkans countries that have been neglected by the EU for too long. In 2014, German chancellor Angela Merkel and the country’s president Joachim Gauck came out with an initiativ ...
| © euinsideBulgaria Missed a Brilliant Foreign Policy Opportunity
Bulgaria once again missed a brilliant foreign policy opportunity to position itself as a constructive player, or a player at all, in the Western Balkans region that would have given substance to what had been repeated for years – the region being important to Sofia. Instead of acting like ...
Stevo Pendarovski | © Sofia PlatformLast Chance for EU and Western Balkans
On Thursday, in Vienna, starts the annual summit of the Western Balkans that was initiated last year in Berlin and became famous as the Berlin Process. Lead subjects on the agenda of the prime ministers of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Albania, and a ...
| © European CommissionFlaming Headlines in the Combustible Balkans
It is by no chance the Balkans are known to be a powder keg. Only one spark is needed for everything to burst in flames, often completely unnecessary. This reputation was proved true once more this week when regional and other media ignited unnecessary passions by manipulatively rephrasing a sta ...
| © euinsideDemocraturas Are Flourishing in EU's Yard
Here, in the Balkans, we love to compete who’s got it worse. In an inter-Balkan group, we immediately start the tales of whose country from the region has got it worse, whose government is more incompetent, more corrupt, where the media are most yellow and disgusting. To a casual observer ...
| © FinanceA Look on Macedonia and Greece through the Maybach
July 15th is a date to remember for Greece and Macedonia. Last Wednesday the European Commission untied the purse strings to help the exhausted from long years of recession Greek economy, thus trying to balance out the wildfire conflict in the Eurozone, provoked by the inability to rea ...
| © Council of EUEuropean Semester for the Balkans – a New Instrument for Old Problems
This is the first year in which the European Commission issues country-specific recommendations to the countries in the European enlargement process after they were included in the European Semester for closer economic policy coordination. The decision to include countries from the enlarge ...
| © EPPThe Shameful Hypocrisy of European Political Parties
With its inaction the EU has a huge responsibility for allowing Macedonia to turn from one of the most prospective candidate countries in the Western Balkans into one of the toughest cases in the region. In the words of Vesna Pusic, Croatia's first deputy prime minister and minister of foreign a ...
Nikola Gruevski, Olli Rehn | © European CommissionEnlargement Policy Has Failed in Macedonia
The developments in Macedonia are a natural consequence of the complete failure of the EU enlargement policy in the former Yugoslav republic. Because of the Greek veto, the EU has practically lost its only leverage for exerting influence over the reforms process in the country, namely the carrot ...
Alexander Vucic, Donald Tusk | © Council of the EUSerbia Is Starting To Lose Patience with EU
Serbia and EU are in a stalemate and unless an exit is found this could prove another huge geopolitical challenge for the EU. Because of the non-starting of accession negotiations with EU Belgrade is now visibly losing patience. This has become crystal clear during the meeting on 21 April betwee ...
| © MVEPEU Is Unfreezing the SAA with Bosnia and Herzegovina
EU foreign and European affairs ministers will formally unfreeze tomorrow (21 April) the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Bosnia and Herzegovina in implementation of their part of the deal to change the approach for the country's European integration. This is what Croatia' ...
| © European Parliament Zagreb OfficeDayton Has To Be Renegotiated
It is rare the information offices of the European Parliament to organise events that contribute to finding a solution of problems, especially regional ones. One of these rare occasions was the conference [Croatian + English language] "Croatia - a bridge between the EU and South Eastern Eur ...
Hashim Thaci, Vesna Pusic | © euinsideWestern Balkans Are Beginning To Put New Conditions to EU
As a result of the reforms fatigue, the duration of the process, the weakening focus of the EU and the geopolitical shifts, the Western Balkans are starting to dictate the conditions. This has become crystal clear again on the occasion of the new tension that emerged between Serbia and Albania b ...
Vesna Pusic, Philip Hammond | © Council of the EUEU Is One Step Behind Developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina
After long years of a standstill, at first sight, it seems that the process of European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina is starting to come off from the deadlock. This became possible after Croatia launched an initiative last year for a stronger commitment by the EU for the European integr ...
Ivica Dacic, Vesna Pusic | © euinsideSerbia - between Geopolitics and the European System of Values
Had the EU-Russia relations not deteriorated because of the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea and the proxy war Russia is leading in eastern Ukraine, hardly the relations of any EU member state or a candidate for EU membership would have been raised as an issue. The situation now, how ...
ICJ | © UN Photo/CIJ-ICJ/Frank van BeekA Solomon Decision by the ICJ on Croatia and Serbia Genocide Claims
The UN International Court of Justice in the Hague has closed a 15-year old page of the post-Yugoslav history with a Solomon-type of a decision. According to the legend, two women asked King Solomon to resolve their dispute over who is the real mother of the baby. The king suggested that th ...
Aleksandar Vucic | © Vlada RSSerbia and Bulgaria: between Winnetou and Hans Castorp
I have always believed that there are striking resemblances between Bulgaria and Serbia. And there is plenty of evidence. We share a similar mentality (a strong Balkan concentrate smelling of brandy and hot peppers), we are Orthodox Christians, disobedient to any rules and laws, people of the so ...
Maja Kocijancic | © European CommissionSerbia and EU at War over Freedom of Speech
While Europe was uniting and rising against the aggression on the freedom of speech with the attack against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, when 12 people were killed, a verbal conflict broke up between Serbia and the EU .... over the freedom of speech. The reason is an article  ...
Christian Danielsson | © Council of the EUPutin and Kosovo Stand on the Way of Serbia's EU Integration
In the beginning of 2014, it seemed as though Serbia's European path was sunny and irreversible. This was before Putin annexed the Crimea, invaded Eastern Ukraine and stated that the Balkans are a Russian sphere of influence. In December 2014, Serbia's European path has become cloudy, bumpy and ...
Daniel Mitov, Karl Erjavec | © Council of the EUDaniel Mitov: The Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina Cannot Be Applied for Macedonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a special case and the EU's new approach toward the country is not applicable for any other of the candidate countries from the Western Balkans but also from the Eastern Partnership if, at some point in the future, such a process begins for them as well, said Bulgaria's ...
Federica Mogherini, Johannes Hahn | © European CommissionAll Parliaments in Bosnia & Herzegovina Must Make a Written Commitment
The EU foreign minsters have tasked the high representative for EU foreign policy Federica Mogherini and EU Enlargement Negotiations Commissioner Johannes Hahn to secure as soon as possible a written commitment by Bosnia and Herzegovina for reforms. This happened during the foreign minsters' mee ...
Andrey Kovatchev | © European ParliamentAndrey Kovatchev: Bosnia and Herzegovina Needs New State Structure
In order to have enlargement there should be desire from both sides. On the one side are the countries that want accession and on the other is the public opinion in the EU member states, especially the old ones. Currently, there is no such desire in Germany, France, which does not mean suspendin ...Ivo Vajgl: We Need a "Big Bang" Enlargement to the Western Balkans
All Western Balkan countries have problems that need to be resolved. The European enlargement policy was put to the test because of Ukraine which was not treated as a future EU member, but the circumstances today have changed. At the same time, the European Commission and its President Jean-Clau ...
Vojislav Seselj | © Srpska Radikalna StrankaSerbian Authorities' Silence on Seselj Is a Mistake
It would be wiser if, instead of calling Croatia's reactions against Vojislav Seselj's return to Serbia "daily politics", Serbian Prime Minster Alexander Vucic condemned Seselj's statements. Condemnation is also needed by President Tomislav Nikolic and Deputy Prime Minster and Minster of Foreign ...
Vesna Pusic | © euinsideEU Is Finally Returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina
A year and a half after its EU accession, Croatia can boast a huge diplomatic success - the return of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the agenda of the Union. In the beginning of the year, after the massive protests against the enormous unemployment (mostly among the young people) and the severe econo ...
Edi Rama, Alexander Vucic | © Government of SerbiaThe Historic Serbia-Albania Summit Has Failed
"Just be careful not to pronounce the summit a historical one because we've had enough history in the Serb-Albanian relations". With these words ends the big article of Momir Turudic, a Serbian journalist, in the Vreme weekly, the issue from 23 October. The magazine dedicated in this i ...
| © N1EU Is Lagging Behind on the Media Front
EU can and should have a bigger role in supporting media freedom and pluralism in the EU and beyond. This is how begins the report of the high level group on media pluralism and freedom, established by the former European commissioner for the digital agenda and media, Neelie Kroes, publishe ...
| © To Serbia EU Is a Strategic Goal but Russia Is Love and Friendship
The dust still not settled from the wars that accompanied the break-up of Yugoslavia, the reconciliation process still not over among the former Yugoslav republics, still not buried all the victims and still not convicted all the war criminals, still not finally confirmed all the state borders a ...
| © euinsideThe Balkan Appendix
This is the title of an article by Nikola Jovanovic, programming director of the Centre for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development, for the Serbian weekly Nin. In his analysis, he points out that by removing the enlargement commissioner and merging his portfolio with that of the c ...
Johannes Hahn | © European ParliamentEnlargement Will Never Be the Same Again
One of the much anticipated hearings of candidates for European Commissioners was that of Johannes Hahn (Austria) who is bound for a second term. Jean-Claude Juncker entrusted him with a very important portfolio that provoked very strong emotions and debates - European Neighbourhood Policy and E ...
Alexander Vucic | © SPSVucic, too, Is Trying To Change Mentality
In October, the Western Balkan countries will join the European semester, though not in its complete form. This a new development in the EU accession process which the European Commission revealed last year when presenting its new enlargement strategy. The reason is that the countries from the r ...
Alexander Vucic, Evangelos Venizelos, Stefan Fule, Ivica Dacic | © Council of the EUSerbia - the Balkan Ukraine
If Serbia becomes part of the EU, Russia will lose its influence in the Balkans or, at least, it will be significantly limited. Moscow is not ready to allow that and is actively working to prevent it. EU, however, is too busy with itself, the Eastern crisis, the problems in the Middle East, Iraq ...
Calr Bildt | © MVEPFrankly and Personally about the Balkans
A really sincere conversation about the process of European integration of the Western Balkans has long been due. And although this conversation should have taken place long time ago, the timing right before the formation of the new European Commission and in the beginning of the new term of the ...
Enver Hoxhaj | © MVEPEnver Hoxhaj: New EU Leadership Should Have a More Dynamic Agenda for the Western Balkans
The new leaders of the EU in the next term should have a more dynamic and more practical agenda toward the Balkans and build a culture of hope, said in an interview with this website Kosovo's Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj. According to him, if the European foreign policy had any specific success ...
Ivica Dacic | © MVEPIvica Dacic: All Member States Should Pass Every 10 Years a Health Check
"It would be useful for all EU member states to introduce the so called regular systemic checks every ten years to review the situation in various areas. I am sure that some of the EU member states would not pass the current phase of negotiations we are going through. May be, because they had th ...
| © euinsideA Byzantine Support for Enlargement
One of the meanings of the adjective "Byzantine" is "surreptitious, vile". Last year, Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic used this word several times to illustrate lack of civilisation. "I will not give up on this civilisational battle because health and sexual education of the Croatian chi ...
Kristian Vigenin, Nikola Popski | © MFA BulgariaMacedonia Does not Have a Croatia by Its Side
Two Western Balkan countries are with blocked European perspectives. Those are Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia. The former, due to internal problems stemming from the complex structure of the state established with the Dayton peace accord, and the latter, due to Greece's veto imposed becaus ...
Didier Reynders, Karl Erjavec | © Council of the EUWho Can Restart Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Bosnia has not been forgotten by the EU, not even at a time when the Union is strongly engaged with Ukraine, but does Sarajevo remember what commitments it made to the EU? This is one way to summarise the first Foreign Affairs Council of the EU which adopted special conclusions on Bosnia and Her ...
Ivica Dacic | © SPSAlexander Vucic Sees Serbia's Future with EU and Russia
Serbia has chosen on Sunday old content in a new pack. The former Serbian radicals are already redressed democrats and European integrationists with an absolute majority in Parliament and practically with no opposition. The conservative Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), led by Alexander Vucic, ha ...
| © UDAR, BiHA Clockwork Bosnia
I can hardly think of something more complex than Dayton Bosnia, although serious competition represents the EU single resolution mechanism for failing banks in the euro area which is being currently drawn. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is governed on several levels, but in fact is not gov ...
Ivica Dacic, Jose Manuel Barroso | © European CommissionSerbia Opens a New Chapter in its History, but Has It Closed the Previous One?
Ten years after the Thessaloníki EU commitment to the Western Balkan countries, the situation has changed a lot. Croatia already is a member of the Union, Montenegro is negotiating and Serbia is the cherry on the cake - on January 21st the accession negotiations of Belgrade with the ...
Albania | © European CommissionThe Western Balkan Economies - Informal, with Huge Unemployment and Unreforming
2013 has marked a new beginning in the European Commission's approach to the enlargement process. The eurozone crisis (and not only) was a leading issue in the past years for the reform of the economic governance of the European Union, because it revealed very serious flaws of the European integ ...
| © Serbia and Bulgaria - Euro-integrational Twins
If ever a European enlargement commissioner would ask me what I thought about Serbia's progress toward European accession, I would tell him/her: "Watch Bulgaria and think about Serbia". If he/she would ask me for more details, I would recommend him/her to drive across Serbia and Bulgaria and tak ...
Hans-Peter Friedrich, Viviane Reding | © Council of the EUEuropean Integration Winter in the Western Balkans
The European Union is on its way to become less attractive for the Western Balkans and the Western Balkans themselves are less wanted for the EU. To such a conclusion brings the decision of the justice and home affairs ministers of December 5th to adopt the amendments to the Council regulation o ...
| © Media Freedom To Become a Separate Chapter in the Accession Negotiations
If there is a problem with implementation then monitoring is the solution. This is a preliminary conclusion in the report of the European University Institute in Florence, which is tasked by the European Parliament to prepare a report on media freedom in the Western Balkan countries. This is the ...
Remzi Lani | © Sofia PlatformFrom State Media Monopoly to Private Media Monopoly
During the panel on the role of media in times of transition and the lessons for the Arab countries at this year's Sofia Platform, the Albanian media expert Remzi Lani made a very detailed analysis of the media environment in the Balkan countries. He gave several pieces of advice to his Arab col ...
| © Council of the EUTabloid Politics Delivers Tabloid Journalism
The famous Serb journalist Aleksandar Tijanic has died on October 28th. His last job was chief of the Serbian Radio and Television (RTS). Mr Tijanic is one of the symbols of the journalism in Serbia and before that in Yugoslavia. We are presenting you herewith his first lecture on journalism bef ...
Belgrade | © European CommissionThe Countries from the Enlargement Process Have Huge Problems with Media Environment
One of the things that immediately draws the attention in the European Commission progress reports for the countries from the enlargement process - those from the Western Balkans and Turkey - is that all of them reveal a very sick media environment. Unless that environment is reformed, media fre ...
Stefan Fule | © European CommissionThe European Semester Enters the Enlargement Process
On July 1st this year the EU accepted its 28th member which is possible to had been to a large extent politically prepared for membership, but its economic situation is quite acute and brings another risk into the already exhausted from the crisis European Union. That is why, the Commission is c ...
William Hague and Tomislav Nikolic | © Predsednik RSSerbia Could Get a Date for EU Accession Negotiations with a Safeguard Clause
It will not be certain until the very last moment whether Serbia will get a date to begin accession negotiations with the Union at the EU summit on June 28-29. Currently, Belgrade is a hot destination for diplomats from all over the EU. In the past few weeks, the Serbian capital city was visited ...
Vesna Pusic, Alexander Vucic | © euinsideLess Emotions and a Lot of Pragmatism Serbia Wants in Relations with Croatia
Changes in Serbia are one of the rare cases of which it could be said that EU does wonders. The government, which caused widespread fears in the international community and most of all in Europe because of its proximity to the regime that led to bloody wars in Europe in the end of the 20th centu ...
Hashim Thaci, Catherine Ashton | © Council of the EUThe Taming of Serbia
"Serbia's progress toward European integration bears huge strategic consequences for the Western Balkans. Simply, without Serbia moving forward onto the next stage, the entire enlargement agenda will be thrown into uncertainty. Not to mention the unfolding of nationalism in Serbia itself", this ...
Richard Howitt | © European ParliamentMacedonia - Between What It Is and What Its Neighbours Want It To Be
Next week will be decisive for Macedonia's fate because then the European Commission will publish its extraordinary progress report for the country - a report that was requested by the leaders of the EU member states at their December EU summit. Also next week, the European Parliament is schedul ...
Ivica Dacic | © Vlada RSThis Is (not) the End
During the seventh round of negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo in Brussels a few weeks ago, the mediator in the talks, Catherine Ashton, who on the same day was celebrating her birthday, received two thematic presents - from Kosovo's Prime Minster Hashim Thaci she got a scarf and from his Se ...
| © Council of the EUSerbia Has To Make a Vital Choice
Serbia's time is running out and the government in Belgrade realises this very well. The European Union has put a condition to Belgrade that in June it will receive a date for the beginning of accession negotiations, but only if it reaches an agreement with Pristina under the special dialogue fa ...
| © Council of the EUKosovo's EU Future
With the initiation of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) in 1999, the EU Commission expressed its commitment to contribute to the progress and stability in the Western Balkans. This was further underscored by the announcements at the Santa Maria da Feira European Council in 2000 t ...
| © euinsideCroatia Wants To Share Its Eurointegration Experience with its Neighbours
Tens of thousands of pages of legislative activities, notes, plans, experts, negotiators, in sum - a huge intellectual labour created by Croatia in the course of the country's European integration, is available and open for all the countries in the region which are yet to start on that path. Cr ...
| © euinsidePusic: Croatia Is an Empirical Proof that It Is Possible
In the end of January, at a conference of the group of the European People's Party in the European Parliament on the Western Balkans, EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said that one of the key issues that will be at the centre of enlargement this year are bilateral issues. According to hi ...
| © European ParliamentWill Serbia Avoid the Mistakes from Bulgaria's Transition
Will Serbia start accession negotiations with the EU is a question the answer to which is expected in June this year if, of course, Belgrade's efforts for regional cooperation, according to the comprehension of the Union, will be sufficiently convincing, most of all in terms of Kosovo. The forme ...
| © Vlada HRSerbia and Croatia - Mission Possible
Until the end of 2012 and even the beginning of 2013 a warming of the relations between Serbia and Croatia looked very unlikely after they deteriorated seriously in November. Then the Hague tribunal stirred the spirits in the Balkans, acquitting key figures from the war that followed after the s ...
| © EUBelgrade and Pristina - Nothing Is Decided until Everything Is Decided
2013 is the year when, in the words of Serbia's PM Ivica Dacic, in his country life will be "an idea better". 2013 is also the year when, if it continues with reforms, Serbia could receive a date for starting EU accession negotiations. Of course, there are certain conditions, the most important ...
| © EUA Fail Start for the European Integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina
2012 started promisingly for Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH), but ended with big disappointment. In March, the European enlargement commissioner said in the European Parliament that 2012 would be crucial for BiH's progress toward the EU and the president of the country, Bakir Izetbegovic, even anno ...
| © The Council of the European UnionEU Got the Nobel Peace Prize for the Past, the Present and the Future
While the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony was taking place in Oslo, euinside asked on its Facebook page the question that was most frequently asked ever since the Nobel Peace Committee decided to award the European Union the peace prize - is it deserved? In the first hours of the question, the larges ...
| © euinsideA Yellow Lamp Starts Blinking in the Balkans
In the name of good neighbourly relations and the difficult task everyone to prepare well to fulfil the getting ever tighter EU membership criteria, the remark by the then presidential candidate of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic that Vukovar was a Serbian city was bypassed with diplomatic and tight sta ...
| © EUThe Future of Serbia and Kosovo in the EU Is a Joint Commitment of EU and US
When a few months ago the new Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic paid his first official visit to Brussels, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton needed some help to recognise her guest among the other members of the delegation before their official meet ...
| © euinsideMilanović: Kosovo's Citizens Should be Able to Travel Freely
Croatia has offered its services for finding a common language between Serbia and Kosovo, without however being a mentor. This emerged during the first official visit in Zagreb of Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi on November 6th. Premier Zoran Milanović said before media after his meeting with ...
| © MFA BulgariaMacedonia Is Facing a Civilisational Choice
A fourth time in a row the EU member states will have to decide whether Macedonia should start accession negotiations. The European Commission made another recommendation with the annual progress report of Macedonia and even proposed an option to overcome the Greek veto over the negotiations un ...
| © euinsideŠtefan Füle: Western Balkans Need Reforms, not a Political Process
The Polish presidency of the Visegrad Four (V4) - the group that unites the four Central European countries - the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland - organised a ministerial meeting which was supposed to send a strong signal to the Western Balkan countries that they have solid suppor ...
| © EUWhere is Albania Heading To?
The programme of the Bulgarian PM included a visit to Albania in the beginning of the last week. Although the delegation members and meetings were precisely planned beforehand, it would be useful for the Bulgarian part to know where it is going and how Bulgaria could help Albania being a full me ...
| © EUBosnia - the Big Disappointment in the Enlargement Package
On March 14th EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule said that 2012 would be a crucial year for Bosnia and Herzegovina's progress on its path toward European integration. This happened a little after the long awaited news for the formation of a government, after 18 months statelessness after th ...
| © EUSerbia - 12 Years in Looking for the Way Back to Europe
Just a week ago Serbia marked the 12th anniversary of the fall of the Slobodan Milosevic's regime. Looking back towards the events of October 5th, 2000, some say that actually the return of the strongman's ex spokesperson (Ivica Dacic) in top politics sends Serbia back to the murky decade of the ...
| © EUThe Commission Is Ready To Present a Negotiating Framework for Macedonia
The European Commission has for a fourth time recommended the Council to approve the beginning of accession negotiations with Macedonia, but this time the novelty is that the Commission is ready to put on the table an appropriate negotiating framework that can take into account the need of findi ...
| © euinsideMacedonia Should Understand What Good Neighbourly Relations Mean
The pressure over Macedonia for reforms is growing not only on behalf of the European Commission, which has decided to fill in the vacuum that formed by the waiting of a solution to the name dispute with Greece in order for the real accession talks to begin, but on behalf of other neighbouring ...
| © euinsideMiroslav Lajčák: The EU Is Not a Gift
The European Union has to turn into a number one priority for the countries of the Western Balkans not only in words but genuinely. For Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Macedonia, the main priorities are different, said in an interview for euinside Miroslav Lajčák, a deputy prime min ...
| © EUSerbia To Pay Special Attention on Media, the European Parliament Recommends
Transparency of ownership and funding of media in South East Europe is more and more drawing the attention of institutions and member states in the European Union. This problem was brought up as a number one point in the special dialogue the European Commission launched with Macedonia, while wai ...
| © euinsideEU Needs Success Stories that the Integration Model Works
The European Union has another agenda and enlargement towards the Western Balkan countries is not among its priorities, especially of the member states, in spite of the indeed innovative attempts by the Commission to bring new energy into the process of reforms in this region, which Dr Dimitar ...
| © euinsideWill the “Train for Brussels” Continue to the Western Balkans?
This spring on the occasion of Croatia's progress toward EU membership, we recalled Javier Solana (EU's High Representative on Foreign Policy until 2009) saying in 2008 that the "train for Brussels" is ready to leave. The first station since then will be Zagreb, the city that in July 2013 is to ...
| © EUThe Visegrad Four Should Commit to the Western Balkans
The Western Balkans are at a tipping point - on the one hand they suffer from exhaustion from the blur filling of the phrase "European perspective", from enlargement fatigue, as Montenegro's chief negotiator Alexandar Andrija Pejovic told euinside, but also from the negative effects of the euroz ...
| © euinsideCroatia and Bosnia for Now Refrain from Opening Pandora's Box
Croatia will join the EU with several unsolved problems, one of which threatens to hamper the country's membership, while the other could emerge as a time bomb later. About the dispute between Slovenia and Croatia regarding the payment of compensations from the activities of Ljubljanska bank fro ...
| © EUIn What Direction is Serbia Watching?
The expected news from Serbia this week was new Prime Minister Ivica Dacic's first visit to Brussels and the reactions following this visit. As a matter of fact, nothing spectacular was expected to come out from the usual statements, the sole more interesting thing was the whole atmosphere and t ...
| © NBS(Ir)respective of Anything
Instead of "Comrade Tito, we swear to you!", Serbia's new mantra is "Comrade Fule, we swear to you!". This comment, made by Serbian analyst Djordje Vukadinovic and published in the most circulated Belgrade-based daily Politika, seems to be catching in the most precise manner what is happening in ...
| © Council of EU | consilium.europa.euMacedonia in the Twilight Zone
The EU enlargement commissioner, Stefan Fule, has undertaken an ambitious task to inject new energy into the enlargement process towards the Western Balkans, introducing some new initiatives which, however, risk creating parallel worlds. The biggest risk this to happen is with the extremely diff ...
| © euinsideMontenegro Is Divided In Opinion about its European Future*
It's true that Montenegro has a long way to go but it's also true that the country expected for a long time to receive a green light to start walking on that road. This is why it is strange that the society proved unprepared, politicians too, as it becomes clear from my conversation with Dalibo ...
| © www.neynsky.eu/Nadezhda Neynsky: EU Has No Moral Right to Create Regular Monitoring Mechanisms
Countries aspiring for EU membership to be allowed on every next stage of accession only if they have implemented all the conditions from the previous stage, is said in a draft report of the foreign affairs committee in the European Parliament, drafted by the Greek MEP from the group of socialis ...
| © www.srbija.gov.rsThe New Serbian Cabinet Will Be A Government of the Future
Following a 10-hour long sitting, on Friday (July 27th), the Serbian parliament has approved the composition of the country's new government. The new cabinet, which will have the smallest number of seats since 1990, will be led by Ivica Dacic, who was a deputy prime minister in the outgoing gove ...
| © euinsideAlexandar Pejovic: for Montenegro the Process Is Important Not Membership Itself
On June 29th, 2012, the EU leaders endorsed the decision of the General Affairs Council Montenegro to start accession negotiations - 2 years after the country received a candidate status. The stakes are high because Montenegro is famous with its organised crime and corruption and is even descri ...
| © EUReady, Steady, Go!
"The Eurozone is falling apart", "Europe is moving in two speeds" - in the light of these headlines, a country, which on top of this has the euro as its national currency, is starting official negotiations talks with the EU and is proud of that fact. Among all the key decisions on the agenda of ...
| © euinsideThe New Vidovdan for Serbia
June 28th is a symbolic date for Serbia - starting from Vidovdan (St.Vidus Day), which marks the Kosovo battle in 1389 when king Lazar is killed and the end of the Serbian kingdom is put, going through the 1914 assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the crown of the Austro-Hungarian empir ...
| © Council of Ministers of BulgariaHashim Thaçi: Let's Give President Nikolic Time!
The new president of Serbia should not deal with Vukovar and Srebrenica but with the European future of his country. This is the advice Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi gave during his visit in Bulgaria this week, where he had a brief and very humble lecture, organised by the Atlantic Club ...
| © European Union 2012Nice to Meet You!
It is often said that the first impression is the most important and if this is a fact then the first meeting of Serbia's president-elect Tomislav Nikolic with Brussels top officials seems like a normal, if not friendly conversation in the spirit of understanding with no disagreements on the mai ...
| © euinsideBoyko Borissov: In the Balkans We All Have Our Tempers
In an improvised speech the prime minister of Bulgaria, Mr Boyko Borissov, opened the Sofia Forum for the Balkans, which took place in Sofia on June 8-9. Below you will find a full transcript of his speech: Dear guests, dear fellow foreign ministers who are guests at today's forum, members of p ...
| © euinsideCarl Bildt: European Integration Ensures Stability in the Balkans
The Balkans are over with conflicts and the agenda of the region is already the normal European agenda - economic reforms, social progress and rule of law, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told euinside during the Sofia Forum for the Balkans on 8 and 9 June 2012. He also added that among oth ...
| © Sofia ForumBalkans Must Show They Are Already Grown Up
Around Croatia's accession to the EU (the country signed its accession treaty on December 9 and is expected to become a full fledged member on 1st of July 2013), as well as around the news that Montenegro will finally start accession talks in June, with Macedonia there is already a new special ...
| © SNSDeny And Conquer
Is there a pilot in the plane? There is no such thing as presidency in Serbia. At least this is the feeling one gets when entering the official website of the country's president, as currently there is no information available at all but a brief notice that the official presentation of the presi ...
| © Sofia ForumAre the Balkans Capable to Continue on Their Own Toward the European Idea ... Together
In the last 2 decades the European perspective has proved a powerful catalyst of reforms and strife for better existence for the countries from the former socialist camp and most of all for the Balkans, defined for centuries as Europe's black hole, a powder keg and as the place where bloody wars ...
| © Government of MontenegroGood News for Montenegro
For some people it is still the youngest state on the Balkans, for others - there are younger. Typically for the Balkans there would be at least one defendant and one opponent of the facts. And the facts are that on May 21 Montenegro celebrated the sixth anniversary of its independence. "Six yea ...
| © EUA Year Before Croatia's Accession to the EU
The current crisis in the EU or should I say the current crises, because they are not one or two, is due mainly to the motivation which drove the Union toward further enlargement through the years. We are already in the phase where finger-pointing is useless and where the wounds are so deep that ...
| © euinsideSerbia's Big Challenge
If one watches the Serbian national TV for a long time he or she might feel a real Serb in a while. So strong is the feeling of a nation and its capabilities, future and most of all past. And not only the TV - all over Belgrade you can hear mainly Serbian songs. Against this background, not less ...
| © euinsideSerbia Is at Crossroads, while Kosovo is Unstable
In the Western Balkans there is a feeling of new hope but there also is a feeling that only a spark would be enough to inflame the old hostilities again. The EU is too consumed by its own problems, popular discontent is rising, the nationalists score success after success. USA is far away and i ...
| © nullSerbia, Kosovo and the EU - In a Game of Chess for Three
This year St. George's day (May 6th) promises to be interesting and definitely not much of a holiday. Then in Serbia there will be three types of elections in one day - presidential, parliamentarian and local. In the same day it is expected elections to take place in Greece too, which has been t ...
| © Serbia PresidencyBoris Tadic Got Candidate Status for Serbia’s President*
"With his today's [April 4] decision to step down earlier than the time set by the law, Boris Tadic has received an official candidate status for president of Serbia. On that occasion he said that this was not only his personal victory, but a recognition for the whole country." Among all other n ...
| © euinsideWhere Is Bosnia for Us?
With the approach of the 20th anniversary of the siege of Sarajevo I could not stop thinking how we should mark the day. What kind of a text should I right, since the most important at this stage, that concerns Bosnia and Herzegovina's future, I wrote on the occasion of the debates in the Europe ...
| © EUEU, Elections and Olympics
If you are wondering what the above words have in common, the answer is not that complicated: on Thursday (March 29) the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the EU negotiations with Serbia to start as soon as possible, provided that the country carried out the necessary reforms. ...
| © EUThe Sejdić-Finci Case Holds European Door for Bosnia Closed
That Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has a long way to go until it deserves membership to the European Union is a fact no one is growing any illusions about. That the country has tough past but that since it has a new government has achieved a lot, also no one is denying. That the EU will not leave ...
| © Government of FYROMThe Commission Circumvents Greece and Launches Accession Dialogue with Macedonia
It is clear that achieving a solution to the name dispute between Greece and Macedonia is unlikely this year, which is the main obstacle for the start of accession negotiations with the former Yugoslav republic. Greece does not show any symptoms of softening of its position to block the start of ...
| © EUBosnia Has to Make Big Strides to the EU
"2012 will be a crucial year for the progress of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the path toward the European Union", said on March 14 EU Enlargement Commission Stefan Fule in the European Parliament during the debates on a resolution about Bosnia and Herzegovina, drafted by Doris Pack, MEP (EPP, Germ ...
| © Adelina Marini | www.euinside.euEP: Macedonia Should Start EU Accession Negotiations
After tensed debates on March 14 the European Parliament voted on a resolution, calling the Council to set a date for the start of accession negotiations with Macedonia. The former Yugoslav republic is the first in enlargement history that has waited for such a long time to receive a date for ne ...
| © EUCroatia’s Former Ruling Party Formally Indicted of Graft
When more then a year ago Croatian media announced that the police was looking for former PM Ivo Sanader, after he was allegedly involved in a graft affair, nobody had any idea about the size of the so called 'Fimi Media' affair. A few months later the Croatian newspapers reported on their front ...
| © EUCroatia said ‘Yes’ to EU membership
"Croatia said 'Yes' to the European union". Those were the words of the country's prime minister, Zoran Milanovic, before he cast his ballot in favour of the country's EU integration. "Croatia said 'Yes'" were also the first comments at the end of the election day on Sunday, January 22. In the s ...
| © EUNew Year’s Promises in Croatia
Croatia met 2011 with an arrested ex-prime minister, a cabinet reshuffle and several EU negotiation chapters to close before it. In the beginning of 2012, the former prime minister Ivo Sanader is at large, although the trial against him continues, his successor Jadranka Kosor was able to bring t ...
| © www.predsednik.rsExpected Results for the EU Integration of Serbia and Montenegro
Serbia and Montenegro will have to wait until next year to see their progress on the EU-demanded reforms, taking shape into concrete steps forward in their EU integration process. As expected, the last for this year European Council did not approve the so desired candidate status for Serbia, nor ...
| © The Council of the European UnionDobrodosla, Hrvatska!
After successfully closing all negotiation chapters this summer, on Friday Croatia has officially signed its EU accession treaty, thus opening a new chapter in its history of an independent state. In the back light of the serious economic crisis and the even more serious debates on what the exit ...
| © EUMacedonia Wins a Battle But Not the War in Name Dispute with Greece
A historic day for Macedonia, a bitter defeat for Greece. That is how Macedonian media reported euphorically about the judgement of the International Court of Justice in the Hague from December 5, stipulating that Greece has breached the 1995 interim agreement with Skopje by blocking the country ...
| © euinsideSerbia's Stakes
The Western Balkans are again getting under the spotlight for the EU summit, while in the same time they managed to attract the attention of the foreign ministers of NATO, who are also meeting in Brussels. This time, however, the message is different. The region is no longer a threat for Europe' ...
| © EUExpectedly in Zagreb, Surprisingly in Ljubljana – Election Victories for the Left
"We are counting on this government to take us into the EU and take us out of the crisis". Those were one of the first comments after the first unofficial election results were announced in Zagreb on Sunday, December 4. The elections put an end to the 8-year long hegemony of the right Croatian D ...
| © euinsideStatus: Unknown
In less than a week, the European leaders will gather for the last for this year European Council in order to discuss several key issues, among which the enlargement process, which includes accepting Croatia as a new member and granting a candidate status to Serbia. And while the accession treat ...
| © euinsideElections Time
This Sunday election time has come again for two neighbouring states, which only 20 years ago were part of former federative republic of Yugoslavia and now they are part of the EU, though at a different stage. In Slovenia, already a member both of the EU and the eurozone, voters this Sunday are ...
| © European UnionEurozone Debt Crisis Will Not Bypass the Balkans
The South East European countries will not manage to stay away from the impacts of the crisis in the eurozone, which is the main trade partner of the region. Looking in the long term perspective, these economies should invest in education and R&D in order to boost economic growth, the World Bank ...
| © euinsideMontenegro in Anticipation of Surprises from the December EU Summit
The euphoria that was reigning in Montenegro, following the European Commission October progress report, and the recommendation for a start of EU accession talks has started to transform into anxiety. The Balkan country's enthusiasm was first watered down by Dutch lawmakers and later on by Franc ...
| © European UnionPristina Belgrade: Just Another Round
The negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia, the latter still refusing to accept the independence of the former, are not a sports game but nonetheless they have something in common with a boxing game: there are two teams - Pristina and Belgrade - a judge from the EU, who presides the negotiations ...
| © European UnionCroats Are to Choose a Government that will Take Them to EU on Dec 4
While the Croatian governing party is shaking with scandals and shortly before the country is to officially sign its EU accession treaty, the Croatian voters will have to chose who should lead the country as a full member of the EU. After local deputies decided to dissolve Parliament last week, ...
| © euinsideA Big Step for a Small Country: Montenegro Starts Accession Talks, Macedonia Is Lagging Behind
A big step for the small Balkan state and a smaller step forward in the enlargement process. That is how can be described the news that on Wednesday, October 12, the European Union has officially launched accession talks with Montenegro. A day before visiting Podgorica, in order to personally de ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual Services Serbia Got EU Candidate Status but Talks Are Still Not Opened
When Ratko Mladic was arrested in May the phrase "just a small piece and you are there" (jedan Komadic i tamo ste) was born - a word play with the name under which he was hiding - Komadic in Serbian means a particle. Following Wednesday's (October 12) report, published by the European Commission ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual Services Albania and Bosnia Are Lagging Behind its Balkan Peers in EU-related Reforms
Albania and Bosnia turned out to be the weakest Western Balkan students this year. Limited progress and continuing political stalemate, which are hampering the reform process, are the conclusions in brief in the European Commission's annual reports on the two countries' progress in the EU integr ...
| © Serbian PresidencySerbia Again Awaiting October
11 years ago, on the 5th of October 2000 Serbia ousted Slobodan Milosevic's regime. Again in October, 11 years later, the country seems to have a real chance to show that during those years it has made enough efforts to win EU candidate status. Late on Tuesday Reuters reported, quoting unnamed E ...
| © Serbian PresidencyKosovo and EU - Serbia's Two Parallel Goals
Serbia has two immediate parallel goals - to secure a mutually acceptable solution for Kosovo providing strong guarantees for the Serbs living there and to accelerate its accession to the EU, Serbia's President Boris Tadic told the UN General Assembly on September 23rd. According to him these tw ...
| © European UnionSlovenia Even Closer to Snap Elections
Slovenia is facing snap elections after the government of Borut Pahor lost a confidence vote sought by him on Tuesday. In fact, the non-confidence vote came as a result of Parliament's refusal to back the appointment of five new ministers in the cabinet. Pahor will continue to act as a prime min ...
| © NATOWho Cares about Serbian Interests in Kosovo?
Kosovo Albanian customs officers are deployed as of September 16 on two checkpoints at the border with Serbia despite resistance of Kosovo Serbs and discontent of Serbian officials. The EU Rule of Law mission had to use helicopters to transfer customs officers in order to avoid road barricades l ...
| © European UnionNew European Representative to Bosnia Raises Big Hopes
New "super" European Representative Peter Sørensen is already in Sarajevo and presented his credentials to Bosnia's Presidency on Friday (September 9). The Danish career diplomat, who will act as head of the EU delegation and Special Representative of the EU in Bosnia (EUSR), will have the uneas ...
| © European UnionKosovo Insists on a Tangible EU Future
"Now is the time to turn the EU perspective into an EU reality." The statement was made by Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga during her address to members of the European Parliament (EP) foreign affairs committee on September 6. Jahjaga arrived in Brussels to lobby for her country's EU integratio ...
| © European UnionCustoms row between Serbia and Kosovo solved via EU mediation
The customs stamps issue, that strained relations between Belgrade and Pristina in the past two months, has been resolved thanks to the mediation of the EU. After difficult and in moments "unpleasant" negotiations (in the words of the head of the Serbian team), the two delegations have accepted ...
| © euinside'Linguistic' disputes rattle Montenegro's political stage
Montenegrin, Serbian or Mother Tongue to be called the official language taught in Montenegrin schools. This ostensibly linguistic dispute, between the ruling parties and opposition, could endanger not only the new school year but Montenegro's EU bid as well. Heated debates over the issue have b ...
| © Government of CroatiaChampagne for Zagreb, “Time is ticking away” for Belgrade
"Mrs Merkel, dear Angela, welcome!" This is how Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor greeted on Monday (August 22) German chancellor Angela Merkel. After an exchange of gratitude during the welcoming ceremony and the official meetings, Kosor and Merkel withdrew for a "tete-a-tete" conversation ...
| © European UnionAngela Merkel pays a key visit to Zagreb and Belgrade
German chancellor Angela Merkel has most probably never heard the Bulgarian proverb, according to which when talking to her daughter, a mother-in-law is actually trying to get her daughter-in-law pay attention. However, it is broadly expected Merkel to deliver a similar message while on an offic ...
| © www.vlada.hrShort circuits after summer storm
A friend of mine, born in ex-Yugoslavia, told me several years ago that in the last census he declared himself a Bulgarian, as his father was born in Dimitrovgrad and has a Bulgarian surname, his sister wrote down she was Montenegrin, as there is where their family lives, his mother said she was ...Tension in North Kosovo escalates
A border checkpoint set on fire. Reinforced presence of KFOR troops. Barricades raised in North Kosovo. These scenes from the past several days showed that tension in the self-proclaimed independence southern Serbian province had not faded at all. Furthermore Serbs and Kosovo Albanians are still ...
| © European UnionSerbia and Kosovo at odds again over trade embargo
Tension between Serbia and Kosovo has risen these days after the authorities in Pristina decided to impose embargo on products imported from Serbia. The decision came into force as of July 20, when all trucks transporting goods from Serbia were stopped at the administrative border. Pristina has ...
| © www.vlada.hrCroatia will probably sign the EU accession treaty in Warsaw
Croatia, which last month got green light to end the European union accession negotiations, will most probably sign the official accession treaty in the end of November or the beginning of December in Warsaw. This became clear following the visit of Croatia's Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor in Pol ...
| © European UnionSanader is back home
Seven months after he was arrested in Austria and two years after he resigned from the top government position, former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader has been extradited to Zagreb. Late on July 18, around 10 pm local time, Sanader was taken to Zagreb prison Remetinec where, in order to prev ...
| © ICTYThe forecast for Serbia: hot with a lot of arrests
Another hot day with a promise for a chill-out in the end of the day - this was the forecast for Serbia for Wednesday, July 20. And it is correct, excluding a tiny detail that the day will be especially hot for the journalists in the country. Yet on Monday, in some local media, information emerg ...
| © President of SerbiaSerbian president reaches out to Bosnia
Sarajevo-born Serbian President Boris Tadic, who has been repeatedly blamed for tolerating Bosnian Serbs, visited the capital city of Bosnia for the first time in five years as late as July 7. The visit, which took place amid strong media interest, was aimed at demonstrating friendship towards B ...
| © ICTYTheatre of the Absurd in the Hague
To perform a theatre of the absurd piece - that must have been the main idea of former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic at his second appearance before the the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague on Monday. His numerous attempts to interrupt the judge, ...
| © European UnionCroatia and the magic of the future membership
"A couple of months ago I said we were in the last ten minutes of a soccer match, it could be that the last seconds were even more exciting than the entire match," Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi told a news conference following the EU-Croatia accession conference in Brussels. Literall ...
| © euinside"Secret" monument of Alexander the Great in Skopje angers Athens
If one should judge about the greatness of a nation on the basis of the size of its monuments, then Macedonia is definitely a great country. A huge bronze 12 m high figure, accompanied by a 10m pedestal, is the newest Skopje's gain that has been transported from Florence and will be put up in th ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual ServicesEU expects Croatia in 2013
It is a very important moment. The end of a long journey that started in October 2005, almost six years passed, six years, during which Croatia has changed tremendously, six years that have transformed the country into a major democracy, based on the rule of law and into functioning market econo ...
| © vmro-dpmne.org.mkMysterious death of a young man triggers protests in Skopje
A mysterious death of a 22-year young man in Skopje unleashed the spirits in the Macedonian capital at the moment when VMRO-DPMNE was celebrating its election victory. According to eyewitnesses the young man was beaten to death by a member of the special police units. Hundreds of young people, o ...
| © European UnionNikola Gruevski's party heads towards third term in office
Macedonians apparently like the status quo or simply do not see any alternative to the current government. This has been proved by the results from the June 5th parliamentary elections that will most likely guarantee a third term in office of the VMRO-DPMNE of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski. His ...
| © European UnionEC proposes mechanism against visa abuses
The European Commission has proposed on May 24th a safeguard clause to be inserted in the EU visa legislation, that would allow for a temporary reinstatement of visas for third countries only in "exceptional circumstances." EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom stressed several times at ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual Services Serbia and Kosovo hold the key for their European future
Against the backdrop of statements about a possible partition of Kosovo, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visited Belgrade and Pristina on May 19-20th to voice the European support for the local authorities. His message to Serbia and Kosovo was more than clear - further economic ...
| © www.vmro-dpmne.org.mkCoffee, Turkish delight and pre-election passion in Macedonia
The election campaign for the June 5th snap parliamentary elections in Macedonia kicked off officially on May 16th. MP candidates listed in 18 lists, submitted by parties and coalitions, will compete for the votes of 1.8 mn voters. As euinside already reported, according to the latest amendments ...
| © www.predsjednikrs.netRepublika Srpska drops controversial referendum plan after EU intervention
Bosnian Serbs have given up their plan to hold a referendum on the work of the Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) Court and Prosecutor's Office after the intervention of the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Catherine Ashton. She arrived unexpectedly in Banja Luka to discuss the ...
| © European UniionBosnia faces the most serious crisis since 1995
The international community should not neglect the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) which is facing the most serious crisis since the end of the 1992-1995 war. The warning came from High Representative Valentin Inzko during debates on the country at the UN Security Council on May 9th. H ...
| © European UnionThe long way home
For some May 9 was V Day, for others - Europe's Day, while for Croatia's former prime minister Ivo Sanader it was the day when he refused to admit his defeat and return to its home country, after fleeing from it in December and being arrested later in Austria. After having spent several months i ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual Services EU visa free regime for Serbia and Macedonia endangered
The European Union could reinstate visas for Serbia and Macedonia because of the influx of immigrants applying for asylum in EU member states, particularly in Belgium and Sweden. The warning was addressed by Tanja Fajon, European Parliament's Rapporteur on visa liberalisation for the Western Bal ...
| © The Council of the European UnionEU in search of a special representative in Kosovo
While the European Union is mulling over its representation in Kosovo, the mandate of Pieter Feith as special representative of the 27 in Pristina expired. By April 30th Feith was serving both as head of the International Civilian Office and as a Special Representative of the EU (EUSR). Brussels ...
| © www.predsjednikrs.netBosnian Serbs defy international community again
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik managed to irritate the international community again with a new drive to challenge the legitimacy of the central institutions. Upon his initiative, the Parliament of Republika Srpska has decided to call a referendum on High Representative's imposed laws on the ...
| © European UnionEarly elections in Macedonia will be held and will be costly
Macedonians are heading again to the polls on June 5th to elect their representatives in Parliament. The early elections turned out to be the only way out of the political crisis, triggered by the opposition's decision to leave Parliament. Parliament Speaker Trajko Veljanoski signed the decision ...
| © European UnionThe EU gave a strong support to Croatia
Croatia is walking steadily on the path of European Union membership after it managed to close on April 19 two big and very important chapters - Chapter 11 Agriculture and Rural Development and Chapter 22 Regional Development and Structural Instruments. As Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Marton ...
| © European UnionHow far is actually “within reach”?
The recent visit of the European Commission President to Zagreb brought more questions than answers. According to Jose Manuel Barroso himself, the aim of his visit was to encourage the Croatian authorities during the last stretch of the country's EU membership talks. "My visit comes at a point w ...
| © European UnionBarroso urges more reforms from Macedonia and Bosnia
The visit of European Commission (EC) President Jose Manuel Barroso to Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) last weekend (9-10 April) did not bring any unexpected news. He urged for speeding up of reforms, strengthening of political dialogue and national consensus over issues related to EU ...
| © European UnionA woman assumes for the first time the presidential post in Kosovo
Kosovo has got its first woman president after the ruling coalition and the main opposition party agreed on the nomination thus avoiding the risk of snap elections. The political crisis was triggered by the March 28th ruling of the Constitutional Court, according to which Behgjet Pacolli's elect ...
| © European UnionStefan Fule urges Serbia to engage seriously in reforms
Serbia has a European future and it is up to the country how fast it will achieve its EU membership goal. By sending these encouraging words EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule addressed Serbian officials during his visit to Belgrade on March 29th. The other two important messages were Serbi ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual ServiceThe Kosovo-Serbia dialogue: the second round
Pristina and Belgrade keep on bringing closer their positions in a search for solutions to specific problems related to people's daily life in Kosovo. The topics discussed at a meeting held on March 28th in Brussels were cadastres and the civil registry. The two sides have agreed to set up a wo ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceGovernment and opposition without agreement on early elections, again
A meeting between leaders of the main political parties in Macedonia convened by President Gjorge Ivanov on March 22nd ended without agreement on holding of early elections. The talks were supposed to contribute for the resumption of the political dialogue in the country and overcoming of the cr ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceThe Bosnian Federation is with new authorities and new problems
The long-awaited formation of the authorities in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) was supposed to lead to a breakthrough in the five-month long political stalemate in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) but instead could be a reason for even greater tension between the three constitutive ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceNew government, old priorities
"An operation done with threads instead of a laser" - that is how the recent changes in the government of Serbia are described by some. The cabinet reshuffle has been approved late on Monday following week-long debates. Why the debates took a whole week since the changes were endorsed unanimousl ...
| © Government of CroatiaCroatia – between EU membership and snap elections
General elections in Croatia should be held after the EU accession negotiations are over, that is by the end of the year, Croatian Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor said in an interview with a local TV station on Saturday, March 12. No big news so far as, despite the pressure both from the oppositio ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceIn Memoriam: Zoran Djindjic
"If someone thinks rule of law and reforms can be stopped by eliminating me, then this is a huge delusion, because I am not the system." These are the words of the first democratically elected prime minister of Serbia, Zoran Djindjic, who, unfortunately could not live up to see his biggest dream ...
| © Council of the EUA new idea for Serbia to recognise Kosovo
Autonomy for northern Kosovo in exchange for recognition of Kosovo by Serbia. The proposal emerged in the latest report of the International Crisis Group (ICG), which describes in details the situation in the sensitive North. The document released on March 14th comes days after Belgrade and Pris ...
| © Government of CroatiaCroatia faces snap elections?
Snap elections in Croatia may not remain just a demand of the opposition following a meeting between the leaders of the main political parties in the country on Friday (March 10), called by president Ivo Josipovic. According to the official information, the talks were to be held between 9 a.m. a ...
| © MFA BulgariaNo breakthrough after the latest diplomatic shuttle in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The latest diplomatic shuttle which was supposed to convince Bosnian leaders that it is high time to strike a deal on power sharing did not result in a breakthrough. Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria and Slovenia Nickolay Mladenov and Samuel Zbogar met with local officials in Sarajevo on March 7th t ...
| © NATOSerbia and Kosovo sit at the negotiations table, three years later
On the third anniversary of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo from Serbia, Belgrade and Pristina are preparing to take their seats at the negotiations table, this time not to discuss the status but to find a solution to problems concerning people's daily life. While the Serbian si ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceCroatia at the final leg of EU accession but why are the last steps most difficult?
Twenty years after the painful break up of former Yugoslavia and almost six years since the start of EU accession negotiations, Croatia is set to become the 28th member of the bloc. In order to end the negotiation process, the country has to formally close several chapters and to carry out the m ...
| © European CouncilBosnia, its neighbours and EU
Who else but the neighbours would know best the importance of Bosnia's EU integration? The rhetorical question comes from the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Austria and Slovenia in a joint article published in the Nezavisne Novine daily during the weekend. The publication is actually the message ...
| © euinsideCroatia – online calls and real protests
Compared to what has been happening in Libya and North Africa in the recent weeks, the protests in a peaceful Balkan capital such as Zagreb may seem like children opposing to their strict teacher in the kindergarten. But it cannot be denied that from just three people ten days ago, the number of ...
| © Government Information ServiceWe, the Serbs and the rest
Following an unsuccessful first attempt to arrive in Bulgaria, due to technical problems with the government's aircraft in December, Serbia's Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic succeeded in his second attempt and landed in Sofia on Monday (February 21). It seems that he had very tight agenda and he ...
| © Blog Montenegro GovernmentAn online prime minister
For reasons probably known by my distinguished readers, I haven't had sufficient time to post any new articles to my blog. Mostly because of my hobby, I used to write about various economic and political ideas." This abstract is part of the latest post in the blog of Montenegro's Prime Minister ...
| © European CouncilRuling parties and opposition in Macedonia get ready for early elections
Early elections in Macedonia are looming after Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said that the snap vote is a possible outcome of the political crisis, triggered by the opposition's parliamentary boycott. The ruling VMRO-DPMNE was claiming until recently it saw no reason for early elections but on ...
| © Government of CroatiaEurope is ready for Croatia, but Croats still hesitate
Croatia is moving more and more confidently towards its European Union membership and will most probably achieve its aim to wrap up the negotiation process by end-June. During his official visit to Zagreb on Tuesday, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, made it clear that the country woul ...
| © www.president.gov.mkNascent political dialogue in Macedonia
The leaders' meeting convened by Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov on February 7th over the opposition's parliamentary boycott did not bring any result as expected. The only success of the initiative was that Ivanov managed to bring together leaders of the main political parties around the tabl ...
| © tomislavnikolic.blogspot.comOpposition in Serbia insist on early elections as social discontent rises
Tens of thousands of Serbs gathered on February 5th in downtown Belgrade responding to a call by the opposition Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) to protest against the poor economic situation in the country and to call for early elections. The rally, held under the slogan "Fight for changes", was ...
| © Audiovisual Service37 volumes of promises
Serbia made a promise and kept it. In just 45 days the country managed to give answers to as much as 2,483 questions, handed by the European Commission at the end of last November and on Monday Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic delivered the replies to the questions in the Commission's ques ...
| © euinsideThe Croatian Series: a new episode
I guess you remember the start of the series: "Let's stop the corruption in Croatia," which started with the arrest of former Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader just a few days before Christmas. To sum up: the plot in the first episode was the following: the good guys (those are the Croatian au ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceThe Macedonian parliament was left without opposition
Macedonia entered a parliamentary crisis after lawmakers from almost all opposition parties walked out of the parliament. The main opposition party SDSM, supported by three other parties, announced on January 28th it would no longer take part in the parliament's work. The reason for their move w ...
| © Audiovisual serviceEU mission in Kosovo takes on organ trafficking affair
Only days after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called for an international investigation of the allegations of human organs trafficking in Kosovo, the EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) announced it has opened a preliminary investigation into Dick Marty's report. The EULE ...
| © Audiovisual ServicePACE: There cannot be selective justice
There cannot be selective justice, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) stated firmly, while adopting the report of Swiss senator Dick Marty (ALDE), about possible crimes committed by Kosovo Albanian rebels. A resolution passed on January 25th by PACE calls for an internati ...
| © Audiovisual serviceThe political crisis in Albania is deepening
An anti-government demonstration. Calls for resignation. Bullets and use of tear gas. Three people killed and dozens injured. No, this is not a scene from the riots in Tunisia but a picture from Tirana. The opposition led by the Socialist Party of Tirana's Mayor Edi Rama organised on January 21s ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceSerbs start realising that EU membership is not a panacea
The European Parliament ratified on January 19th the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia which is seen as a first step towards possible accession to the Union. This is not the end of the procedure, as only 11 of the 27 member states have approved the deal so far. Bulgaria w ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceSerbia – a step forward towards Europe
Serbian government announced on Thursday (January 13) that the country had completed the questionnaire, which it received from the European Commission in the end of November and which it planned to send back to Brussels on January 31. The questionnaire is the basis, on which a country is being a ...
| © The Council of the European UnionCroatia has seven more EU negotiations chapters to close
Croatia has closed on December 22nd three of the negotiations chapters with the EU, including one of the most difficult: Chapter 24 - Justice, Freedom and Security. The other two provisionally closed chapters were: Chapter 27 - Environment and Chapter 31 - Foreign, Security and Defence Policy. F ...
| © Audiovisual serviceNew Year, New Ministers
New year - new luck ... or new ministers in cabinet. It all depends on the Prime Minster. When her name is Jadranka Kosor, she is the premier of Croatia and she has to show both the citizens of her own country and the European Union that she can really fight corruption, even on top government le ...
| © WikimediaMontenegro demonstrates efforts in the fight against corruption
Just a few days after Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic resigned from the post, a corruption affair started unraveling. On December 24th local media reported as a breaking news that several senior municipal officials from the coastal town of Budva were arrested on corruption charges. A ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceMilo resigns - it's time for new politicians
The longest serving political leader in the Balkans stepped down on December 21st. Montenegro's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic announced that he resigned explaining his decision as a personal choice which was not prompted by any pressure. "This decision was neither sudden nor hasty and was made ...
| © European CouncilHashim Thaci - a leader of Kosovo or a boss of organised crime
Swiss senator Dick Marty, who caused public uproar with his revelations about secret CIA prisons in Europe, has again drawn media attention and sparked anger among politicians. Serbs, who were claiming for years of being subject of selective justice by the international community and were accusi ...
| © euinsideChristmas in custody
According to the tradition Christmas should be spent with the family, but this year former Croatian Prime Minister, Ivo Sanader, will have to spend the Holidays away from his beloved ones - in custody in Salzburg. According to Barbara Feichtinger, a spokeswoman for Salzburg prosecutors, there wa ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceThe first elections in independent Kosovo - high turnout and claims of irregularities
Preliminary results from the December 12th vote show that the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK) of outgoing Prime Minister Hashim Tachi and its former coalition partner - the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) - will keep their leading role in the new parliament. A new key player however emerged a ...
| © Auiovisual ServiceAmerica lost its "Bulldozer" 15 years after Dayton
The US special envoy to key conflict spots around the world Richard Holbrooke, also known with the nickname "Bulldozer" has died. In Bulgaria Mr Holbrooke was more popular as the architect of the Dayton Peace Agreement that put an end to the war in Bosnia. His nickname the diplomat received for ...
| © mfaIn 2014 the Western Balkans to receive an EU accession date
While I was watching on Saturday (December 10th) the ministers of foreign affairs of Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia I thought that it is not impossible for the Balkans to leave the black hole in which they are for centuries. Three young, well educated and perfectly English-speaking foreign minister ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual ServiceAfter only two days of man-hunt, Ivo Sanader was arrested in Austria
Only two days of suggestions and speculation, the question "Where did former PM Ivo Sanader escape in the day when his political immunity was removed?" already has an answer. The wanted internationally former MP was arrested on Friday afternoon in Austria and according to Croatian media he spent ...
| © The Council of the European UnionAbout the lorries, the millions and the convicted minister
In the end of 2004 a minister of defense concludes a deal worth several million for several lorries for the army. Last year it became clear that the same lorries could have been bought for several million less. The result: on Monday (December 6) the minister has received four years in prison and ...
| © photo: Boris ScitarWhere is Sanader?
"Currently I am on a previously planned trip. And, of course, I will turn out". A message with this text was sent by the ex-PM of Croatia Ivo Sanader in response to a question of the local daily Vecernji List whether he had escaped from the country and whether he would turn out to face charges f ...
| © Nobel Prize CommiteeSerbia seeks balance between East and West
Serbia faced this week a very tricky choice and found itself in the position to seek balance between its foreign policy priorities after succumbing pressure from China and deciding not to send a representative at the Nobel Peace Prize awarding ceremony. This years' laureate is Chinese dissident ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceWanted: Ivo Sanader
What is the common ground between the search by the International Tribunal in the Hague of Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic and the former PM of Croatia Ivo Sanader? The common ground is that Sanader's name and photo is already put together with those of Mladic and Hadzic in the "Wanted" section on ...
| © Audiovisual serviceA new division of Europe, according to the Financial Times
Yet years before the crisis in the eurozone has erupted the EU was basically divided (then) by analysts into a North and a South, and later into strong economies and Southern Periphery. And even before that the Union was divided into new and old member states officially by ... the US. However no ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual ServiceMontenegro and Albania awaiting to receive a status of candidate countries
When in 2006 Montenegro declared independence, one of its arguments for leaving the union with Serbia was that Belgrade was hampering its EU integration process as Serbia fails to prove it was co-operating fully with the UN war crimes tribunal, namely to arrest Bosnian Serb wartime leader Ratko ...
| © European Commission- Audiovisual ServiceCroatia in the EU: lessons from the Bulgarian accession
"No country will join the European Union before being 100% ready to do so. Equally, we must make sure that the European Union is 100% ready before it enlarges to include new countries." These words of European Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule show that the EU has learned the necessary le ...
| © Bulgarian MFAA message from Sofia to the Western Balkans
The relations among the Balkan countries often are earmarked by decades and even centuries of hostilities, conflicts and memories. It is no accident that the region is popular as a "powder keg", because history had so far shown that if a solution cannot be found, the guns are being taken out. Bu ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceWhat is going on with media in Macedonia?
Thursday, November 25th. The private Macedonian TV station A1 appears to be (it all happened in the evening) under intense police presence. Journalists from the medium claim the police did not let anyone in or out without being checked and without any explanation. Some even complain that they we ...
| © courtesy: Government of SerbiaThe Hague and Kosovo stand between Serbia and the EU
Almost a year after Serbia filed its application for EU membership, the country will have to prove in practice it responds to the requirements to receive a candidate-country status. In order to join the bloc, however, Belgrade will have to convince Brussels not only that it implements the necess ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceGreece wants the Western Balkans in the EU in 2018
2018, when will be the 100th anniversary from the end of World War I, might turn into a symbolic year for the Western Balkans and their European integration. Greece will work for ensuring support among its European partners this date to become a target for a fully fledged EU membership of the co ...
| © euinsideRadovan Jelasic: We have to do business on the basis of cultural similarities
I meet Radovan Jelasic at the conference "A Soul for Europe" in Istanbul. I am surprised to see the former Governor of the National Bank of Serbia to participate in discussions about cultural policy. It even became clear that it is not his first appearance in this forum. Perhaps because he has a ...
| © Government of Republic of CroatiaNew Deal or a Big Deal?
A lot has been said and written in the last few days about the programme, the speeches and even the gaffes during PM Borissov's visit in New York. In several days probably all this will be forgotten and new programmes, speeches and probably gaffes would emerge. The PM of another, a little smalle ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceIs the EU a good bait for the Balkans?
Both Serbia and Kosovo want EU membership. Then what is the problem, I ask myself? To join the Union with borders, drawn with blood, is a little weird in the beginning of the 21st century. It is a fact, however, that the EU wants its members to solve their historic problems before their accessio ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceThe problem between Greece and Macedonia is the lack of trust
Is it possible the Gordian knot between Greece and Macedonia to be untied? This question periodically reappears in public, becomes essential in European Union's agenda when the dispute between the two countries heats up, but then again recedes in anticipation a magic power to appear, which could ...
| © Government Information Service of BulgariaPsychology of the Balkans: the Evxinograd mission
The fact that the Bulgarian Prime Minister has graduated from the High Special School of the Ministry of the Interior as an engineer in fire precaution technique and safety and a lieutenant in the same time, probably all children in Bulgaria's kindergartens know well, because he used to open new ...
| © Eva ManasievaSrebrenitsa - the inconvenient memory
A colleague of mine called me in the middle of last week to tell me that she was being sent to shoot the burial ceremony of over 700 newly identified victims of the Srebrenitsa massacre 15 years ago. She asked me whether I was interested and whether I wanted photos. Of, course, I said - this is ...
| © Eropean Parliament- Audiovisual ServiceIs the "Europe's poweder keg" coming to an end and the beginning of its European integration?
If someone is thinking that European integration (at least for a while) has ended with the fifth enlargement and with the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty, is wrong. The integration processes are yet to start as the euro crisis, unleashed by Greece, shows. Nevertheless, geopolitical proc ...
| © euinsideSerbia will fill in the gap in the budget with a Russian loan worth $200 mn
Serbia will get $200 mn in a loan from Moscow to fill in part of the hole in its budget, the press service of the Serbian government has announced. According to the agreement, signed on Wednesday in Moscow between the Serbian minister of finance Diana Dragutinovich and the Russian deputy ministe ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceA new beginning?
A very strong message sent the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and deputy president of the European Commission Catherine Ashton in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo. She announced that the EU would not leave th Western Balkans until they join the Union. Something even more, she explained w ...
| © euinsideThe Western Balkans will be a major priority for Bulgaria's foreign policy
Although yesterday there was no word about the second anniversary of Kosovo's independence, the new foreign minister of Bulgaria Nikolay Mladenov announced today that the region of the Western Balkans and the Black Sea would be a major priority for the Bulgarian foreign policy. He said this when ...
| © Audiovisual ServiceWho remembers Kosovo?
Only 2 and a half years ago Kosovo was on the first pages of newspapers, was in the headlines and the most commented stories, mainly because of the fear that when it claimed independence this could unleash a new wave of long and bloody Balkan wars. This did not happen. For 2 years now the former ...
| © Audiovisual Service2 years since Kosovo is independent, the Balkans get attention
On February 17th 2008 after a lot of negotiations, tension, threats and division, the former autonomous Serbian region Kosovo claimed independence. Since then the republic has not received major recognition as the expectations were, but the worst thing is that still not all EU member states have ...
| © euinsideBulgaria's foreign policy will be a collective responsibility
For less than a year Bulgaria changed two minister of foreign affairs. The new first diplomat Nikolay Mladenov who replaced the failed as a Commissioner-designate and as a foreign minister Rumyana Zheleva, has been voted today by the National Assembly and was to present his priorities for the jo ...
| © ICTYCarl Bildt: Bosnia must look into the future not fight with the past
The role of the politicians is to form the future not constantly fight the past. This is what the Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt said in response to a question what the EU could do to help Bosnia, especially against the background of the failure of the trial against Radovan Karadzhich in th ...
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