Serbia hails its clear
path toward joining the E.U.
IHT, STEPHEN CASTLE, March
3, 2012 Saturday
ABSTRACT
The Serbian president,
Boris Tadic, said his country's acceptance as a candidate for the E.U. was a
"great achievement" for a nation once ostracized for its role in the
Balkan wars of the 1990s.
FULL TEXT
A day after Serbia
formally become a candidate for membership in the European Union, its leader
called the development a ''great achievement'' Friday for a nation once
ostracized for its role in the Balkan wars of the 1990s.
''This is a great day
for Serbia,'' President Boris Tadic said in a televised news conference in
Belgrade.
At a meeting in
Brussels, E.U. leaders agreed on Thursday that the government in Belgrade had
made enough progress to be placed on a clear path toward joining the bloc.
What it takes to clear
path toward joining the EU
In recent years,
Serbia has stepped up cooperation on tracking down war crimes suspects,
and last month it signed an agreement to improve contacts with Kosovo, a
southern Serbian province that has declared independence. Last October, the
European Commission made improved relations with Kosovo a condition of
Serbia's being granted official candidacy.
''We agreed tonight to
grant Serbia the status of E.U. candidate country,'' Herman Van Rompuy,
president of the European Council, said Thursday. ''This is a remarkable
achievement, a result of the efforts demonstrated by both sides in the dialogue
between Belgrade and Pristina.''
Serbia was considered
responsible for much of the conflict in the Balkans in the 1990s, and NATO
bombed it in 1999 in an effort to prevent a more severe crackdown on ethnic
Albanians in Kosovo. The legacy of that period set back Serbia's efforts to
join the European Union as it struggled to come to terms with the past while
modernizing its economy and political system.
Concerns – I think
timely and legitimate – neighboring states raised
Analysts say that the
symbolism of Serbia's being welcomed by Europe after 20 years of isolation is
not seen so clearly by its neighbors, which are far more focused on daily
concerns. Despite the progress of the Western Balkans toward European
integration, economic standards here are the lowest in Europe.
Sonja Biserko, who
heads the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, said Friday that the
leaders of the European Union had made a strategic decision: to integrate Serbia
within the E.U. system rather than allow it to use its potential to destabilize
the region, specifically in Kosovo and Bosnia.
''Serbia has finally
decided on its strategic orientation after three decades of not being sure
where it belongs,'' Ms. Biserko said.
For years, the Serbian
bid for membership was thwarted because of the hunt for Ratko Mladic, the
former Bosnian Serb military commander. That obstacle disappeared when Mr.
Mladic was arrested last year and handed to a U.N. tribunal in The Hague, where
he has been indicted on genocide charges. Prosecutors have argued that forces
under his military command massacred more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and
boys in Srebrenica in July 1995.
What made EU embrace
Serbia
The European Union has
struggled in recent years to accommodate 12 new nations, which it accepted in
2004 and 2007. Most are former Communist countries. But despite flagging
public enthusiasm for the prospect of further enlargement, European policy makers have kept the door
open to Balkan countries in the hope that the lure of E.U. membership
can help stabilize a volatile region.
Slovenia joined the bloc in 2004, and next year Croatia
is to become the second E.U. member that once was part of Yugoslavia.
Even with candidate
status, it is likely that Serbia will have to wait about a year for a starting
date for negotiations with the European Commission to bring its laws in line
with E.U. laws, a process that can take several years. Talks with Croatia began
in 2005 and concluded late last year.
No country that has
begun negotiations has ever been denied E.U. membership, although Turkey's accession process
has stalled over its refusal to recognize Cyprus, an E.U. member. (DO – and Muslim … )
Issue ahead of road
toward joining EU
Serbia will have to
navigate a series of difficult issues as part of its application. The
government in Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo as an independent
state and was not asked to do so as a condition of gaining candidate status
by the bloc, which is itself divided on the issue.
Europe's leaders,
however, did insist on improved relations between Serbia and Kosovo before
taking the latest step. Last month, the two sides agreed on conditions under
which Kosovo could be represented at international meetings and on technical
parameters for border controls. Serbia agreed for the first time to cooperate
in forums in which Kosovo is represented by Kosovars, but the name Kosovo will
be marked by an asterisk indicating its disputed status.
Diplomats hope the
deal on border issues will reduce recent tension in northern Kosovo, where many
Serbs reject the government in Pristina.
In Pristina, the
public is more interested in discussing the border agreement than Serbia's
invitation to start talks with the European Union, analysts said.
''The debate has
focused more on the asterisk than if Serbia will join the E.U.,'' said Agron
Demi, a policy analyst from the Institute for Advanced Studies GAP in Pristina.
''Kosovo has won a
little bit with this agreement but Serbia has won a lot,'' Mr. Demi said.
''Kosovars were hoping that someone would block Serbia's candidacy because
people don't feel Serbia has fulfilled the requirements of the E.U.''
Reaction by Croatia to
Serbia being welcomed by EU
Zarko Puhovski, a
professor of political science at Zagreb University, said the news about Serbia
was talked about in Croatia, but it was not dominating the headlines. Despite unresolved
anger over Serbia's role the war in Croatia in the early 1990s, Croats
are too cynical about the process to pay attention to the symbolism of
the E.U. ''welcoming'' Serbia to Europe, he said.
''Croats are so
disappointed with the moral content of the European Union that no one views a
country entering it as a point of distinction,'' Mr. Puhovski said from Zagreb.
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a key deal b/w Serbia and Kosovo on border control and Kosovo's representation at international meeting
==========
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a key deal b/w Serbia and Kosovo on border control and Kosovo's representation at international meeting
Kosovo and Serbia reach key
deal
Pact on border controls should
help Belgrade with its E.U. aspirations
MATTHEW
BRUNWASSER, IHT, February 25, 2012 Saturday
ABSTRACT
The
agreement outlines the conditions under which Kosovo can be
represented at international meetings and will help Serbia move toward E.U.
candidate status.
FULL TEXT
Serbia
and Kosovo, its former province, reached an agreement Friday that helps pave
the way for Serbia's gaining official ''candidate'' status to join the European
Union.
The agreement outlines the
conditions under which Kosovo can be represented at international
meetings and outlines technical parameters for border controls.
European
Commission leaders will meet in the coming week to decide on whether Serbia has
met all the criteria to begin accession talks; a key sticking point had
been the tense relations with Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.
A previous E.U. meeting, in December, declined to offer Serbia an invitation,
as German peacekeeping troops had come under attack by Serbs in North Kosovo.
Serbia
has until now thwarted any participation by representatives of the Kosovo
government in international meetings by walking out or refusing to participate.
Under the new agreement, Serbia will accept international forums in which
Kosovo is represented by Kosovars for the first time.
The
diplomatically complex agreement states that the word ''Republic'' will not
appear next to the name Kosovo in international forums. Instead, a
footnote will refer to Security
Council Resolution 1244 - which did not mention the independence of Kosovo
- and a ruling by the International
Court of Justice saying that Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008
was legal.
There
are hopes that the agreement on technical border issues will reduce violence
like the incidents seen in recent months by ethnic Serbs living in North
Kosovo who refuse to live under rule from Pristina, the capital of Kosovo.
Diplomats
said the agreements cleared the path to a positive decision when E.U. heads of
government will decide to begin the process of making Serbia a member of the
bloc - a process that could take years.
''These
agreements are a major step forward,'' Catherine Ashton, the E.U. foreign
policy chief, and Stefan Fule, the European commissioner for enlargement, said
in a joint statement Friday. ''They are important not just for Serbia and
Kosovo but for the stability of the region and thus for the E.U.''
In
Belgrade,
the agreement was seen by Serbs as an inevitable compromise Serbia had
to make to join the Union, said Bratislav Grubacic, the editor of the
VIP news agency in Belgrade and a political commentator.
The
main difficulty faced by the Serbian negotiators, he said, was ''how not to
provoke any angry reactions in Serbia.''
The
former Serbian province remains a hot button issue in Serbian politics. The
Serbian minority and Orthodox churches in the predominantly Muslim country
continue to occupy a powerful place in the Serbian psyche and stoke genuine
passions.
Serbia
will hold parliamentary elections in May and E.U. candidacy is seen as key for
the ruling center-left coalition to remain in power.
But
it is becoming less clear how important E.U. candidacy will be for Serbian
voters, Mr. Grubacic said.
In
Kosovo,
the public is irritated at the government's agreement to not use
the word ''Republic'' in regional forums, according to Engjellushe Morina,
a political analyst in Pristina.
''The
public feeling is that we are being used as a tool for Serbia to get E.U.
candidate status,'' she said. ''What is Kosovo getting out of all of this?''
The
European Commission will study the feasibility of reaching a Stabilization and
Association Agreement with Kosovo, which would be the first step toward
membership in the European Union. Kosovo currently has none.
''This
is a de facto recognition of the independence of Kosovo,'' said Edita Tahiri,
Kosovo's lead negotiator.
She
says 88 countries, including the United States and all E.U. member states
except for five, now recognize the independent Republic of Kosovo.
Until
now,
Kosovo has been represented in international forums by Unmik - the United
Nations Mission in Kosovo.
Serbia
was expected to be granted candidate status after it captured Ratko Mladic, the
former Bosnian Serb commander, last year. But Germany blocked move that in
December, saying it wanted to see progress in talks between Serbia and Kosovo.
But
on Friday, the German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, called the agreement
''a big step in the right direction.'' Mr. Westerwelle, speaking in Brussels,
added that the agreement's endorsement by both sides would be important to
Serbia's prospects.
Asked
about the agreement to not use the word ''Republic,'' Ms. Tahiri said, ''We are
focusing on the substance, rather than the formalities.''
The
opposition Vetevendosje party in Kosovo released a statement accusing the
government of removing the ''Republic'' from Kosovo in exchange for a footnote.
''We
are a Republic for ourselves only. And this is exactly contrary to the concept
of a Republic,'' the statement said.
The party said it would organize a protest on
Monday to ''suspend for four hours the work of this government, which is
suspending our state and independence.