EU leaders set to confirm West Balkans commitment

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 09/06/05

At a meeting next week in Brussels EU leaders will try to allay fears in Washington and elsewhere that Turkey and the countries of the Balkans are no longer on course for EU membership.

According to the draft summit conclusions, EU will confirm its commitments to see Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania, as well as Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, joining the Union.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently expressed concern that public rejection of the constitutional treaty could result in an end to EU enlargement, a process seen by Washington and leaders in the region as crucial to future stability.

"The European Council reaffirms its support for the full implementation of the Thessaloniki agenda, which underlined that the future of the Western Balkans lies within the European Union," read the draft summit conclusions.

Leaders are also expected to reaffirm their commitment to open accession negotiations with Turkey in October as long as Ankara signs an agreement which would mean de facto recognition on the Republic of Cyprus.

For the Western Balkans, full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia still remains a major obstacle to membership.

Leaders are set to press Croatia to apprehend General Ante Gotovina, indicted for his role in the 1995 Operation Storm in which hundreds of Serbs were killed and some 150,000-200,000 were forced to flee Krajina.

Croatia was scheduled to start membership talks in March but the government's failure to apprehend Gotovina is delaying talks.

Foreign ministers are expected to meet on Monday (13 June) to discuss Croatia's membership bid, but little progress is expected.

In a statement on Wednesday (8 June) Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said that Croatia had made "some progress" towards complying with the Hague tribunal, "but for the time being, co-operation cannot be described as full".

They will also warn Romania and Bulgaria that special attention will be paid to the way they fulfil the promises they made during the accession negotiations, while reiterating the aim of the two countries joining the Union on 1 January 2007.

Article reports that at the European Council on 16-17 June 2005, EU leaders were to confirm the commitments to see Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Albania, as well as Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey, joining the Union.