The pull of Brussels

the economist
The Balkans and the Europe
At least the western Balkans is still starry-eyed about the European Union

IF GOVERNMENTS tweeted what they thought, it would be easy to sum up what those in the western Balkans felt this week: “phew!” from Serbia, “yeah!” from Montenegro and “meh”, the equivalent of shrugged shoulders, from everybody else....more...
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/node/21532306

Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen bid vetoed

euobserver.com
22.09.11 @ 17:44

BY VALENTINA POP

The Netherlands and Finland on Thursday (22 September) vetoed Romania and Bulgaria's bid to join the border-free Schengen area, a move the Polish EU presidency said represented a "sad conclusion about mutual trust among member states...more...
read more: eu observer.com
http://euobserver.com/22/113707

Fins Weigh In On Bulgaria-Romania Schengen

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 09:18

Finland will follow the Netherlands' examples and veto Bulgaria and Romania's Schengen accession, Romania's Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi has revealed after meeting his Dutch and Finnish counterparts, according to Sofia News Agency.

Novinite (Sofia News Agency)

"However, we need consensus and we need a positive vote on behalf of all EU member states," Baconschi has declared after he met his colleagues at the UN General Assembly in New York....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/finland-weighs-in-on-bulgaria-romania-schengen-entry

Slovenia: EU bail-out ratification in danger

eu observer.com
TODAY @ 09:33

BY ANDREW RETTMAN

Slovenian MPs can still vote on the second Greek bail-out and beefed-up euro rescue fund, the EFSF, despite the fall of the government, but getting them to vote Yes "could be a problem."
Barbara Raflak, foreign policy advisor to centre-left caretaker prime minister Borut Pahor, who was defenestrated in a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, told EUobserver on Wednesday (21 September) that parliament will still vote on the measures as planned on 27 September....more...
read more: eu observer.com
http://euobserver.com/19/113693

E.U. Warns Bulgaria and Romania on Reforms

ny times
By STEPHEN CASTLE

Published: July 20, 2011
BRUSSELS — Bulgaria on Wednesday was warned of serious deficiencies in its judicial system, urged to get more convictions from its fight against organized crime and told that its battle against corruption had yet to lead to convincing results.
The warning, in a formal assessment from the European Commission, highlighted continuing worries about law and order in Bulgaria andRomania, four years after they joined the bloc....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/21/world/europe/21iht-union21.html?ref=europe

Bulgarians, Romanians Kicked Out of Dutch Labor Market

balkan insight
01 JUL 2011 / 13:14

Bulgarians and Romanians, along with foreigners from outside the EU, will now only be granted work permits for the Netherlands in "exceptional cases".

Novinite (Sofia News Agency)
Dutch MPs passed the measure, which is the brainchild of Social Affairs Minister Henk Kamp, despite EU official's warnings that it may hinder freedom of movement - one of the EU's fundamental freedoms.
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgarians-romanians-kicked-out-of-dutch-labor-market

Europe to Rule on Suspect Romanian MEP

balkan insight
23 JUN 2011 / 10:32

A decision to remove the parliamentary immunity of Adrian Severin, the Romanian MEP suspected of corruption, will help Bucharest’s drive to fight against graft at home, analysts say.

Marian Chiriac Bucharest
The European Parliament was expected to vote on Thursday to lift Adrian Severin’s immunity following media claims that he offered to propose legislation in exchange for cash. The decision is anxiously waited by Romanian anti-corruption activists....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/european-parliament-to-decide-over-romanian-mep-immunity

US official: Balkans' future is in Euro-Atlantic institutions

se times
23/06/2011

Visiting the Western Balkans, US State Department official Philip Gordon warned of unresolved political problems that impede progress.
By Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 23/06/1
Two of the biggest issues in the Balkans -- relations between Serbia and Kosovo and stagnated reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- were the focus of Assistant US Secretary of State Philip Gordon's visit to the region last week.

In Belgrade, he told Serbian national TV network RTS that the EU can not accept new members that have unresolved or non-harmonised borders with neighbouring countries....more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/23/feature-02

Romania still fumes at Szekler office opening in Brussels

se times

14/06/2011

Bucharest asks the EU not to accredit or recognise the new mission.

By Paul Ciocoiu for Southeast European Times in Bucharest -- 14/06/11

Reactions in Romania do not seem to be subsiding after the June 1st opening of a Szekler Land representatives' office in Brussels. The move was taken at the initiative of three Romanian EU parliamentarians of ethnic Hungarian origin....more..

read more: se times 
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/14/feature-04

Macedonia, other Balkan EU hopefuls eye starting date for talks

se times
13/06/2011

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele suggested on Friday that the European Commission might recommend later this year that the EU launches accession talks with some of the Balkan countries.
(Various sources -- 10/06/11 - 13/06/11)
The European Commission's (EC) announcement on the completion of Croatia's accession talks and its recommendation for the country's July 2013 EU entry has sent a positive signal to other countries in the region, Bulgaria said on Friday (June 10th).....more....
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/13/feature-03

EU Blocks Bulgaria, Romania Schengen Entry

balkan insight
09 Jun 2011/ 17:11
EU Interior Ministers decided on Thursday to keep Schengen hopefuls Bulgaria and Romania out of Europe's borderfree zone, a day after the Eropean Parliament approved their bid
Novinite (Sofia Press Agency)

In a move effectively determined by opposition from the Netherlands, the European Union decided to keep the two youngest EU members out of the Schengen zone, even though they have met all technical requirements.....more....

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-gives-bulgaria-romania-cold-shoulder-on-schengen

European Parliament OKs Bulgaria, Romania Schengen Bid

balkan insight
08 Jun 2011 / 17:36

The European Parliament has given the green light for Bulgaria and Romania to join the Schengen border free zone.

Novinite (Sofia Press Agency)

The two countries have met the conditions to enter Europe's border free zone, based on European Commission progress reports, MEPs said on Wednesday, but added that Parliament should be kept informed of additional measures taken in the Bulgaria-Turkey-Greece area to cope with a possible surge in migration pressure.....more....

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/european-parliament-oks-bulgaria-romania-schengen-bid

Croatia in final stretch of EU talks

se times

07/06/2011

Croatia is on track to complete its membership talks with the EU by the end of this month, the Hungarian EU presidency said on Monday.

(Euobserver - 07/06/11; Europa, Hungarian EU Presidency, DPA, Wall Street Journal, Daily.tportal.hr, Reuters - 06/06/11; EurActiv - 03/06/11)

The chapter on fisheries in Croatia's accession talks with the EU was provisionally closed during a meeting in Brussels on Monday (June 6th), bringing the Balkan nation a step closer to the successful conclusion of its membership negotiations with the Union....more....  


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/06/07/feature-03

No more Brussels bluff

the economist
THE EU AND THE WESTERN BALKANS

The European Union should get on with admitting the better-run countries from the western Balkans

Jun 2nd 2011 | from the print edition

FOR Europe’s politicians, whose voters do not much like the idea of further expansion, Serbia’s failure to catch Ratko Mladic was convenient. With the country’s most egregious suspected war criminal at liberty, the European Union had a plausible reason to prevaricate about admitting it....more...

read more: the economist

http://www.economist.com/node/18774816

The Adriatic Connection: Mafia Links from Italy to the Western Balkans

balkan analysis

June 1, 2011

By Matteo Albertini in Milan*
Editor’s note: with Western Balkan governments seeking to demonstrate their commitment to EU accession reforms, major steps are being taken to promote transparency implement rule of law, and tackle organized crime. The present investigation discusses the past, present and future of the latter in the region, in light of the evolution of (and cooperation with) Italy’s major mafia syndicates.

………………………..

Joining the European Union is, without doubt, the main goal of every Balkan country not already part of the bloc. In the last few years, many requirements have been met by several aspiring states; Croatia and Montenegro are now official candidate countries, while status may be given this year to Albania and especially Serbia – the latter having now fulfilled one key requirement when it arrested former Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic last week. Macedonia has made many necessary reforms, with the main obstacle remaining being something completely unique and unrelated to the typical EU accession package (that is, the name issue with Greece)....more...
read more: balkan analysis
http://www.balkanalysis.com/serbia/2011/06/01/the-adriatic-connection-mafia-links-from-italy-to-the-western-balkans/

Mladic extradition insufficient for EU

serbianna.com
June 1, 2011 – 11:17 am
EU Parliament Rapporteur for Kosovo Ulrike Lunacek said that extradition of Ratko Mladic to The Hague is insufficient for Serbia to join EU and that Serbia must do a whole lot more if it wants to join EU....more...

read more: serbianna.com
http://serbianna.com/blogs/bozinovich/archives/1262

Romanian Hungarians Plan Own Office in Brussels

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 07:24

Plan by ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania to open a representative office in Brussels angers Romanian politicians.

Marian ChiriacBucharest
Three ethnic Hungarian members of the European Parliament from Romania have annoyed Romanian officials by announcing plans to open a representative office for the mainly Hungarian Szekler region in Brussels on June 1....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/disputes-over-romanian-hungarians-planned-representation-at-eu

EU Commissioner Tops Bulgaria Popularity Poll

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 07:20

Prime Minister ranked in third place in popularity in a recent poll, which also puts his GERB party on course to win hands down if an election were held tomorrow.

Novinite (Sofia News Agency)
Bulgaria's EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, once again tops the list of popular politicians, with an approval rating of 52 per cent, according to a poll conducted by the MBMD research agency....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgarian-regional-minister-surpasses-pm-in-approval-rating

EU's Catherine Ashton Heads to Serbia, Kosovo

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 12:03

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet with top Serbian officials on Thursday in Belgrade, before heading south to Pristina.

Beta, Tanjug

She will meet with Serbian President Boris Tadic, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, the head of Belgrade's team in the dialogue with Pristina, Borislav Stefanovic, and Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-s-catherine-ashton-heads-to-serbia-kosovo

EU to revise Schengen rules?

se times

30/05/2011

As the EU prepares to debate a possible overhaul, Bulgaria and Romania are watching carefully.

 By Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times in Sofia - 30/05/11

EU leaders are set to address the thorny question of whether the rules covering the passport-free Schengen Zone should be revised in order to provide better control of migration. With thousands of North Africans fleeing the turmoil in Tunisia and Libya, calls for revamping the system have become more urgent....more....  


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/30/feature-04