Balkan states welcome plan for closer ties

Date: 03/06/1999

By Simon Taylor

Balkan countries have welcomed EU plans to offer them closer relations with the Union in return for introducing key economic and democratic reforms.

Macedonia's ambassador to the EU Jovan Tegovski told European Voice that the EU's "stability and association" strategy, which offers the highest level of relations with the Union short of a formal invitation to join, was a "step forward" from the current situation.

Tegovski said earlier schemes such as the two-year old "regional approach" had deprived some countries of the chance to deepen relations with the EU.

Croatian officials also said they were pleased with the Union's new strategy, although they warned against any attempt to force their country into political relations with states in the region at the expense of closer EU ties.

Under the new strategy approved by Union foreign ministers earlier this week, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and even Yugoslavia would be able to negotiate "association agreements" with the EU.

Under such accords, countries can massively boost their links with the Union by cooperating on a number of issues ranging from commercial and technical rules to fighting crime and drug trafficking.

Acting Foreign Affairs Com-missioner Hans van den Broek has said that negotiations will probably start first with Macedonia because of its strong performance in the past on complying with key conditions.

The Commissioner predicted that talks could begin as early as September or October this year provided Macedonia passed a 'feasibility test' designed to assess its readiness for negotiations. That test is due to be finalised by 21 June.

But Macedonia would not be content with an association agreement alone. Tegovski said that Skopje would use the talks to push for a commitment that the country would eventually become a full EU member.

Asked if he felt that the Union had backtracked on the pledge it gave to the region's countries in March that they could join the Union by concentrating on an association agreement, Tegovski insisted that full membership was still on the table.

He also predicted that money would be one of the main topics of the negotiations, given the EU's failure so far to commit itself to finding extra money to make its strategy work.

The Union has already pledged to provide more than €700 million in aid to countries in the region, but no money has been set aside specifically to meet the additional costs of association agreements.

Croatian officials said that they expected that Zagreb would have improved its compliance with a range of political conditions by the second half of next year, increasing its chances of starting negotiations on an agreement.

Croatia has been excluded from the EU's €1.5-billion PHARE aid programme for failing to ensure that enough Serbian refugees were able to return to their old homes in Croatia, and for failing to reform electoral law and guarantee freedom of expression.

Officials say the country's strong economic performance means it has a good chance of meeting the EU's requirements on market opening and trade. But they warn that the agreement's insistence on closer political relations between countries in the region could force them to concentrate on those relationships at the expense of strengthening their links with the EU.

The Commission's stability and association agreement process is the most fully developed part of the global stability pact initiative. The wider programme, which would offer the countries of the region possible membership of NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), was approved by top officials from 40 countries at a conference in Petersberg last week.