Enlargement
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Croatia: After accession, next comes Schengen
3 May 2013631PresseuropDer Standard -
Enlargement : Crisis makes candidate countries think twice
2 May 201311612PresseuropRzeczpospolita -
Serbia-Bosnia: ‘On my knees I ask forgiveness for the crime of Srebrenica’
26 April 2013715PresseuropOslobođenje -
EU-Serbia: EU accession, but not overnight
23 April 2013652PresseuropDie Presse, EUobserver.com -
Croatia: Respecting the rule of law
23 April 20131177 Le Temps Geneva -
Serbia-Kosovo : Everyone’s a winner
22 April 201314115PresseuropDanas, Politika, Blic & 4 others -
Balkans: ‘Serbs in Kosovo courts and police’
18 April 201327PresseuropBlic -
Croatia: ‘It’s a defeat for the SDP’
15 April 2013392PresseuropJutarnji List -
European Elections: Croatian cast their first ever votes
12 April 2013642PresseuropTportal , Novi List, Jutarnji List -
Serbia-Kosovo: ‘Dačić: Urgent need for dialogue! Thaçi: I will accept the invitation’
9 April 201334PresseuropBlic -
Balkans: ‘Montenegro without a president’
8 April 201344PresseuropVijesti -
Balkans: ‘Slovenia unanimous in its support for European Croatia’
3 April 201320PresseuropDelo -
Croatia: At the end of the EU obstacle course
27 March 201322212 Jutarnji List Zagreb -
Croatia: ‘€655m. Vukovar, Osijek, Rijeka and Porec will be first to benefit from EU money’
27 March 2013432PresseuropVečernji list -
Moldova: ‘Success story is over’
21 March 2013604PresseuropTimpul -
Balkans: ‘Government condemns, Brussels stays quiet’
18 March 201322PresseuropKoha Ditore -
Balkans: ‘Belgrade and Pristina reach agreement’
14 March 201335PresseuropBlic -
Balkans: ‘Slovenia allows us into the EU, we allow its banks into Croatia’
12 March 2013241PresseuropJutarnji List -
Turkey: Accession impossible
11 March 201318936 Cumhuriyet Istanbul -
Croatia-Slovenia: ‘Finally! The obstacles have been cleared. In 114 days, we will be in the EU.’
8 March 20135714PresseuropJutarnji List -
Greece: ‘Kazan, Kazan’
5 March 201326PresseuropTa Nea -
Turkey: Paris relaunches negotiations with Ankara
14 February 20137926PresseuropLe Monde, Zaman -
Croatia-Slovenia: ‘Croatia gets less than it should, while Slovenia pays more than it wants’
8 February 201331PresseuropVečernji list -
Croatia-Slovenia: Bridging an irreconcilable divide
6 February 2013963 Tportal Zagreb -
Croatia: Bumps in the road to accession
4 February 20131139 NRC Handelsblad Amsterdam -
Turkey: Erdogan looks east for a little love
31 January 201313359 Milliyet Istanbul -
Banks: ‘Croatia and Slovenia close to bank dispute solution’
31 January 201320PresseuropNovi List -
Serbia: ‘The crisis in Europe and Serbian politicians are to blame’
30 January 201319PresseuropDanas -
Serbia-Kosovo: ‘Dačić: provisional agreement on customs taxes’
18 January 201319PresseuropPolitika -
Balkans: A fresh spat between Bulgaria and Macedonia
19 December 201211210 Dnevnik Sofia -
Central Europe: Where has the region’s solidarity gone?
13 December 2012814 Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Balkans: Hague verdicts stoke old war feud
3 December 20121835 Tygodnik Powszechny Cracow -
Balkans: Gotovina and Markač acquittal reopens wounds
19 November 2012572PresseuropNovi List, Jutarnji List, Poslovni Dnevnik & 2 others -
Turkey-Balkans: EU candidates still don’t make the grade
11 October 2012238PresseuropZaman, Hürriyet, EUobserver.com -
Albania-EU: “Let us in, you bastards!”
15 August 201218096 Gazeta Wyborcza Warsaw -
Enlargement: Slovenia threatens to scupper Croatian accession
26 July 2012452PresseuropSME -
EU membership: Montenegro and Iceland edge closer
27 June 2012386PresseuropEUobserver.com, Le Temps -
Serbia: Tomislav Nikolić, the Balkan loudmouth
7 June 2012671 Jutarnji List Zagreb -
Serbia: Voters turn page on pro-European Tadić
21 May 2012624PresseuropDanas, Politika, Blic & 2 others -
Serbia: Brussels votes for stability
4 May 201230 Jutarnji List Zagreb -
Bosnia-Herzegovina: “The day Europe died in Sarajevo”
6 April 20121591PresseuropDnevni Avaz, Delo, Die Presse, El País -
Balkans: Beware European humble-pie
14 March 2012723 Utrinski Vesnik Skopje -
Balkans: The three musketeers of new Serbia
6 March 2012852 Le Figaro Paris -
Serbia: One step closer to the EU
28 February 2012573PresseuropKoha Ditore -
Croatia: A small “yes” to EU
23 January 2012992PresseuropNovi List, Slobodna Dalmacija, Jutarnji List -
Croatia: Joining the Union with little enthusiasm
20 January 201214715 Tportal Zagreb -
Debate: EU - Turkey’s new whipping boy
13 December 201110316 Milliyet Istanbul -
Croatia: Dreaming of no-strings membership
1 December 20111012 Tportal Zagreb -
EU-Ukraine : Don’t pull the blind down on Kiev
25 October 2011613 Postimees Tallinn -
European Union: An enlargement of illusions
13 October 2011853 Dagens Nyheter Stockholm
Croatia will join the European Union on July 1, the first such entry since the beginning of the financial crisis in 2008. But this should not mean that membership conditions concerning respect for the rule of law are sidestepped, as there were for some states in the last enlargement. 
In Belgrade and Pristina, the press has hailed the agreement on the normalisation of relations between Serbia and its former province, which was concluded on April 19 under the auspices of the EU, as a historic step forward. 
The news has been confirmed: after more than 10 years of negotiations, the Croats are set to join the EU on July 1. Convinced that they had been burned by previous enlargements, the EU’s 27 members were even more strict with Zagreb than they were with other countries which recently joined the Union. 
Although a member of numerous regional and international organisations, Turkey is still not in the EU, despite negotiations dating back some 50 years. A columnist wonders if the the country has missed its chance to become anything more than an auxiliary to US foreign policy in the Middle East. 
Croatia's accession to the EU, scheduled for July 1, remains suspended until a border dispute and banking row with neighbouring Slovenia are cleared up. The impasse exposes the gap in perceptions of national sovereignty between the EU and the continent’s new independent states. 
The Netherlands is the 22nd member state to ratify Croatia's accession to the EU on July 1. A fair decision, says NRC Handelsblad, even if the laxity shown by the bloc during the enlargement which included Bulgaria and Romania led them to be more severe with Zagreb. 
Faced with a European Union procrastinating over Turkish accession, the country's prime minister is threatening to hook up with other global bodies, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. Even if it is just a bluff, it reflects growing impatience in Ankara. 
After Athens, it’s Sofia’s turn to put the brakes on the opening of EU accession negotiations with Macedonia. It’s a stance that’s stirring up nationalist tensions between the two countries and breathing new life into the clichés of its European partners about the bickering Balkans, regrets a Bulgarian journalist. 
Exactly 10 years ago, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were given the right to enter the EU. But despite close economic ties and a sense of shared destiny, different political developments prevent them from having real weight in the Union. 
The acquittal of two Croat generals and a Kosovar ex-prime minister has reignited the dispute over a much-contested subject in the former Yugoslavia: who was the victim and who the aggressor in the war nearly 20 years ago? 
The acquittal of General Gotovina and General Markač by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia salvages the honour of Croatia, but does not erase all the questions about the country's recent past, writes the national press. In Serbia, on the other hand, the news has not been well received. 
Of all states wishing to join the EU, the "Land of the Eagles" seems more motivated than most. But the chance of obtaining candidate status at the moment is pretty slim, because there is so much progress yet to be made. At the border with Greece, the movement of migrants is a good indicator of how both economies are faring. 
Barely installed in his presidential office, Serbia's nationalist leader proceeded to rub salt into the wounds of the former Yugoslavia. But on the crucial Kosovo issue, Tomislav Nikolić soon discovered that reality is more powerful than rhetoric. 
In an unexpected result, nationalist Tomislav Nikolić has defeated the outgoing Boris Tadić to become the new president of Serbia. At a time when the country is a candidate to join the EU, his election will likely have an impact on relations between Belgrade and Brussels. 
On the eve of parliamentary and presidential elections in Serbia, the EU officially supports neither side. But compared to less Europhile opponents, the outgoing president, Boris Tadić, seems to remain the best possible choice. 
Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia... As candidates for accession to the EU, all of these states have had to bow to pressure for sacrifices and compromises from Brussels. A Macedonian columnist notes that the more they have waited, the more the concessions demanded have proved to be exacting. 
Forget the Milošević years and strike a course for the EU. In Belgrade, this is the plan embodied by three ambitious young politicians — Vuk Jeremić, Božidar Đelić and Borislav Stefanović — all of whom trained in the west. 
On 22 January, Croats voted in favour of ratifying the Treaty of Accession to the EU, prompting a sigh of relief in Brussels. The record voter abstention rate, however, must give cause for concern, notes the Croatian press. 
On January 22, Croatia must ratify by referendum the Treaty of Accession to the EU. But the campaign, coming just as the country is about to enter a Europe in crisis, has been marked by second thoughts and a new nationalist rhetoric. 
Buoyed by their country’s political and economic dynamism, more and more Turkish leaders are critical of a European Union that is mired in crisis. However, a Turkish columnist argues that this is not likely to have an impact on Ankara’s desire to join the EU. 
On 4 December, voters in Croatia will elect a new parliament. A few days later, Zagreb is set to sign its accession to the European Union. However, before it officially becomes part of the EU in July 2013, the country will have to implement far reaching reforms, which neither the government or the opposition appear ready to announce to their fellow citizens. 
Although the recent sentencing of the former muse of the Orange Revolution, Yulia Tymoshenko, has raised doubts about the independence of the Ukrainian justice system, the EU should not give up on dialogue with Kiev, which remains eager to build relations with the EU. 
In opening up the prospect of accession to several candidate countries, the European Commissioner for Enlargement means to put on a show of optimism. But it only reinforces the impression that Europe doesn’t know where it’s going, writes the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. - 1 of 3
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