Serbia recommended for EU membership but needs to sort out Kosovo

telegraph
Serbia has been given the coveted status of becoming a candidate for EU membership as long as Belgrade makes progress on settling a border dispute with Kosovo, a breakaway former Serbian province.

By Bruno Waterfield, Brussels
4:59 PM BST 12 Oct 2011
The European Commission on Wednesday recommended Serbia for EU membership and if the Kosovo issue is settled by December then entry negotiations will begin next year....more...
read more: telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/serbia/8822558/Serbia-recommended-for-EU-membership-but-needs-to-sort-out-Kosovo.html

We deserve both status and date

blic online
DJELIC AHEAD OF MEETING WITH FUEHLE

Ivana Mastilović Jasnić

19. 09. 2011. - 00:02h
Foto: FoNet
Comments 0
‘I shall tell Stefan Fuehle that debate over laws on restitution and public property stipulated by the Action Plan begins tomorrow, that it shall be finished until the end of the week and that the laws in question shall be passed within set deadline. I shall also present to the Enlargement commissioner and the whole EC team dealing with the West Balkans the amendments that the Government shall adopt. That signals that all suggestions by the EC have been accepted as well as a certain number of additional suggestions which are to secure majority support in the Parliament’, Bozidar Djelic, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European integration says for ‘Blic’.....more...
read more: blic online
http://english.blic.rs/In-Focus/8016/We-deserve-both-status-and-date

Serbia's EU Progress Wins Brussels Praise

balkan insight
19 SEP 2011 / 19:22

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule had hailed Belgrade's progress towards gaining candidate status.

Belgrade B92, Balkan Insight

Bozidar Djelic started a two-day visit to Brussels on Monday to lobby for Serbia in the run-up to the expected publication of a European Commission "opinion", or "avis" on Serbia's possible candidate status. ...more...
read more balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-enlargement-commissioner-praises-serbia-s-eu-progress

Despite progress, Serbia's EU candidacy linked to Kosovo

xinhua.net
English.news.cn 2011-09-10 06:05:44 FeedbackPrintRSS

BELGRADE, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- European Council President Herman van Rompuy told Serbian officials during the Serbia-EU Forum in Belgrade on Friday that Europe had not forgotten Serbia, but stressed the significance of a compromise over Kosovo....more...
read more: xinhua.net
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-09/10/c_131130905.htm

Germany's Angela Merkel ties Serbian EU hopes to Kosovo

bbc news
23 August 2011, Last updated at 13:37 GMT
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on a visit to Belgrade, has told Serbia it must normalise ties with Kosovo if it wants to join the European Union.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said the issue was "very complex", but that his country did not intend to "bring a new conflict into the EU"....more...
read more: bbc news
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14631297

Sinking the flagship

the economist

Serbia, Kosovo and the EU

Serbian policy towards Kosovo and the European Union is in deep trouble

Sep 3rd 2011

from the print edition
ANGELA MERKEL, the German chancellor, has just holed Serbia’s flagship foreign policy below the water line. For the past year, the country’s leaders have been doing everything they can to win candidate status to the European Union in December, with the aim of going to the country in the spring brandishing their achievement. To that end, they secured the arrest of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general wanted by the UN’s Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal. They have passed EU-compatible laws and entered into an EU-sponsored dialogue with the leaders of Kosovo, a former province that declared independence in 2008. So far, so good....more...
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/node/21528306

Controversy erupts over Vojvodina's Brussels office

se times

22/08/2011

Serbia's northern province will inaugurate its Brussels office within weeks, but some see the move as a step towards separatism.
By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 22/08/11
Vojvodina officials say they harbour great expectations regarding the opening of an office in Brussels in mid-October, primarily to access European funds.
They say this is a normal European practice and over 300 regions from various European states have offices in Brussels....more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/08/22/feature-04

Serbia refuses to compromise on Kosovo despite German pressure

deutsche welle

BALKANS

26.08.2011
Serbia has once again vowed never to recognize Kosovo's independence, despite German Chancellor Angela Merkel's warning on Tuesday that Belgrade's rift with Pristina could threaten Serbia's bid to join the EU.

Serbian President Boris Tadic on Friday reiterated that his country would never accept an independent Kosovo, even if it meant endangering its hopes of joining the European Union....more...

read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15346429,00.html

Angela Merkel ups the pressure on Serbia

deutsche welle
INSIDE EUROPE

27.08.2011
15:05
Angela Merkel has visited Croatia and Serbia as part of her first Balkans tour as German Chancellor. In Croatia on Monday, she congratulated the country for the progress it had made and for its prospective membership of the European Union in 2013. Then she headed to Belgrade to assure Serbia of Germany's support as it moves towards its goal of EU membership.

But she also pressed for more efforts to solve the ongoing dispute between Serbia and its former province of Kosovo. Mark Lowen reports from Belgrade....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6604121,00.html
audio

http://mediacenter.dw-world.de/english/audio/#!/234997/Angela_Merkel_ups_the_pressure_on_Serbia/Program=3067

Merkel Urges Serbia-Kosovo Dialogue

radio free europe

Last updated (GMT/UTC): 23.08.2011 12:24

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Serbia must begin normalizing relations with Kosovo if it wants to move closer to European Union membership.

Merkel, speaking after talks with President Boris Tadic in Belgrade on August 23, said Serbia must resume a dialogue with Kosovo and also influence minority Kosovo Serbs to dismantle structures of parallel authority in northern Kosovo....more...
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/merkel_balkans_croatia_serbia/24305119.html

Merkel urges Serbia to persevere with reforms to gain EU candidacy status

deutsche welle
CORRESPONDENTS REPORT

23.08.2011
Serbs see Germany as a key ally, but have their reservations about pressure from Berlin over Kosovo....more...
read more: deutsche welle

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6602784,00.html

audio

http://mediacenter.dw-world.de/english/audio/#!/230625/Merkel_urges_Serbia_to_persevere_with_reforms_to_gain_EU_candidacy_status

Kosovo tensions visible as Merkel visits Belgrade

deutsche welle
BALKANS

23.08.2011
Chancellor Angela Merkel has appealed to the Serb government to redouble diplomatic efforts with Kosovo. President Boris Tadic, however, has reiterated he will not recognize the former Serb region as a separate country.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday publicly urged Serbian President Boris Tadic to engage more productively with Kosovo and resolve the ongoing conflict with the breakaway former Serb region....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15337157,00.html

Merkel's tour of Croatia and Serbia to focus on economic ties

deutsche welle

BALKANS

22.08.2011
Belgrade and Zagreb are key partners for Germany, even if ties are sometimes complex. Chancellor Angela Merkel has several goals for her trip to Croatia and Serbia, but what do her hosts want and expect from her?

Before Chancellor Angela Merkel's departure for Croatia and Serbia on Monday, her office announced that international, bilateral and trade ties would dominate the agenda. Government sources also acknowledged, however, that the touchiest topic in Belgrade would be Kosovo's claim to independence, recognized by Germany but not by Serbia....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15334175,00.html

Opinion: Kosovo border conflict could hurt Serbia's EU chances

deutsche welle
 OPINION

29.07.2011
The latest border conflict between Kosovo and Serbia shows that peace is a long way off. Nationalists on both sides do not want a resolution, says DW’s Verica Spasovska. But the violence could hurt Serbia's EU bid.

The latest outbreak of violence comes at an unfortunate time for Serbian president Boris Tadic. By handing a suspected war criminal, former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic, to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in the Hague last week, Tadic secured important points for Belgrade's EU hopes and may be allowed to start accession talks by the end of the year....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15277332,00.html

Opinion: Serbia takes another step towards the EU

deutsche welle
EUROPEAN UNION

21.07.2011
The last war crimes suspect indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has been arrested. This brings Serbia a step closer to its goal of EU membership, according to DW's Verica Spasovska....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15255629,00.html

Serbia loses faith in European future

guardian.co.uk

The country is on course to qualify for EU membership but public opinion is becoming more sceptical

John Hooper in Belgrade

guardian.co.uk, Friday 22 July 2011 18.32 BST

Magritte would have loved it – a tree growing out of the fourth floor of a towering office block at the junction of Nemanjina Street and Kneza Milosa Street.

But then, the building, which once formed part of Serbian military headquarters, is a ruin: a nine-storey heap of blackened concrete, buckled ceilings and contorted window frames. On one side is a hole that gapes open to reveal three entire floors.....more...
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/22/serbia-european-union-membership

Arrest of Goran Hadzic paves way for Serbia's EU entry - video -

telegraph.co.uk
Serbia
Serbia accomplished a three year quest to reclaim international respectability with the arrest of Goran Hadzic.
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent1:10PM BST 20 Jul 2011

The country's moderate centre-Left government has worked hard to deliver the last three international fugitives from war crimes charges to The Hague.
Hadzic was not as high profile as Radovan Karadic, the leader of the breakaway Bosnia Serb republic, or Ratko Mladic, commander of Bosnian Serb forces....more...


read more: telegraph.co.uk http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/serbia/8649844/Arrest-of-Goran-Hadzic-paves-way-for-Serbias-EU-entry.html

EU Enlargement Official Pushes For More Serbian Reforms

radio free europe
July 21, 2011

By Rikard Jozwiak
European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele has hailed Serbia's arrest of fugitive war crimes
suspect Goran Hadzic. But he was quick to point out that this was not enough for Belgrade to achieve its coveted EU candidate status later this year.
The capture of Hadzic, who led Serb separatist forces during Croatia's 1991-95 war, came just two months after that of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian-Serb commander. Hadzic is now likely to join him shortly at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). ...more...
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/eu_official_urges_serbia_enlargement_momentum/24272732.html

Goran Hadzic's arrest has made Serbia's case for the EU overwhelming

guardian
President Tadic is now pressing for Serbia's candidacy, yet 'enlargement fatigue' means the EU is reluctant to grant his wish

Simon Tisdall

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 20 July 2011 18.00 BST

The capture of Goran Hadzic, the last war crimes suspect from the Yugoslav wars sought by The Hague tribunal, is a personal triumph for President Boris Tadic, who has dedicated himself to Serbia's "moral rehabilitation". But it would be wrong to assume the arrest, closely following that of Serb general Ratko Mladic, will be rewarded with a big happy smiley welcome for Serbia's EU membership bid. Significant obstacles remain....more...
read more: guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/20/goran-hadzic-serbia-eu

Serbia inches closer to EU membership

deutsche welle

INSIDE EUROPE

23.07.2011
07:05
The last suspect sought by the UN war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia has been arrested. Goran Hadzic, a Croatian Serb, is charged with ordering the killing of hundreds and the deportation of thousands of Croats during the early 1990's....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6577552,00.html