Briefings
Balkans, la route vers l'Union
Croatie et Serbie, les deux postulantes
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Croatia: Barroso opens door to EU
8 June 20113PresseuropJutarnji List -
Croatia: Pope: EU good for the soul
6 June 2011PresseuropVečernji list -
Serbia: After Mladic, the way is open
27 May 201172 Nacional Zagreb -
Balkans: Croats come face to face with their history
20 April 2011563 Novi List Rijeka -
Croatia: EU - what's it in aid of?
12 April 201167 Tportal Zagreb -
Serbia: We can't bluff our way to Brussels
26 October 201045 Blic Belgrade -
Serbia: Dark side of the Yugosphere
13 October 201067 Il Sole-24 Ore Milan -
Kosovo: EU and Serbia finally reach agreement
9 September 2010PresseuropPolitika -
Balkans: Croatian accession still in limbo
7 June 2010PresseuropVečernji list -
Serbia: EU opens the gates another crack
10 December 2009Presseurop -
Balkans: Serbia turns to Moscow and Beijing
7 October 2009PresseuropDer Standard
In arresting one of the generals responsible for the Srebrenica massacre, Serbian authorities have demonstrated their desire to close a dark chapter in their history. But several questions remain about Ratko Mladic’s flight from justice. 
The conviction of former General Gotovina for war crimes on April 15 has been received very badly by a people who consider him a hero of the wars in former Yugoslavia. But this verdict is also a chance to think about what happened, a Croatian columnist writes. 
"For or against joining the EU?" Between now and the end of the year, the citizens of Croatia will be called on to answer a question they increasingly see as irrelevant. Having overcome many obstacles on the road to accession, they are no longer interested in a Europe that is strongly associated with their country’s discredited political elite. 
On 25 October, the union’s 27 member states decided to forward Belgrade’s request for EU accession to the European Commission. But the process that is now underway will still have to overcome a significant number of obstacles, reports Serbian daily Blic. 
With Serbia’s candidacy for EU accession up for review at the end of the month, the tension fomented by Serb ultranationalists is mounting dangerously: witness Serb hooligans’ recent attacks on the Gay Pride parade in Belgrade and at the Italy-Serbia match in Genoa. 
After years of gridlock, the EU 27 have now decided to get the Serbian accession talks going again. Whilst delighted by the EU’s green light for Serbia’s free trade agreement, the Serb press says Belgrade still has a long way to go before it can hope for accession. Une région en quête d'elle-même
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Editorial: Balkan blues
27 May 2011341Presseurop -
Interview: Saviano: Mafia has conquered Balkans
11 March 20112572 Foreign Policy România Bucarest -
Balkans: Serbia and Kosovo start negotiations
8 March 201122PresseuropRzeczpospolita -
EU accession: The Balkan family photo is blurred
21 January 20111152 Politika Belgrade -
Balkans: The big cleanup begins
23 December 2010994 Monitor Podgorica -
Balkans: Neither here nor there
30 September 201024 Adevărul Bucharest -
Balkans: Montenegro - come if you're rich
26 August 201058 The New York Times New York -
Balkans: And how about “Northern Macedonia”?
4 May 2010321 Kapital Sofia -
History: Can't take the Ottoman out of the Balkans
8 February 20101063 Globus-Skopje Skopje -
Balkans: Back to the future with Yugo-nostalgia
22 October 2009381 Wprost Warsaw
The Italian Mafia has succeeded in colonising the Balkans and Eastern Europe, announces Roberto Saviano, the author of the novel Gomorrah. In Romania, it manages prostitution networks, which are also linked to drug trafficking and money laundering. 
The population census demanded by Brussels has become a political challenge in most of the countries of the western Balkans. Twenty years after the start of the wars in former Yugoslavia, the venture brings ethnic and social tensions back into the spotlight. 
Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro: in the space of a fortnight, the leaders or ex-leaders of all three countries have been arrested or accused of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, reports a Montenegro weekly, the EU is paving the way for the accession of all three Balkan countries.
A nest of vipers, a powderkeg of ancient hatreds or the cradle of Western civilisation — Europe doesn't know how to view its troublesome southeastern corner. One thing is sure though, it keeps getting its stance wrong. 
Eager to join the European Union, Montenegro is cleaning up its image of corruption and pulling out all the stops to attract foreign capital. 
After nearly two decades of absurd and counter-productive quarreling, it's high time that Greece and its former Yugoslavian neighbour find a solution to the Macedonian name issue, argues Bulgarian weekly Kapital. 
Five centuries of Turkish domination left their mark on culture, cuisine, language and even gestures in Balkan countries. It is an influence that is still apparent in attitudes that have affected the pace of integration in the European Union for a number of Balkan states. 
Separated by wars which marked the 1990s, some citizens of the former Yugoslavia are attempting to rebuild the cultural ties, which were a feature of the Titoist state. Today, with encouragement from Europe, political leaders are also beginning to recognize this trend. Bruxelles face aux Balkans compliqués
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Institutions: EU grows weary of enlargement
10 November 2010581 Presseurop -
Balkans: Hail Albania!
25 November 2009191 The Guardian London -
EU enlargement: Auditors find "black hole" of the Balkans
14 October 2009PresseuropTrouw -
Balkans: Washington controls the Bosnian game
13 October 20091 Novi List Rijeka -
European Commission: The three next big things
22 September 2009El País Madrid -
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Have passport, can't travel
3 September 200921 BH Dani Sarajevo -
EU enlargement: Never mind the Balkans, here's Iceland
31 July 20092 El País Madrid -
Balkans: Frustrated expectations
15 July 2009The Guardian London
For the European press, the publication of the annual “progress report” on prospective candidates for EU accession, has failed to dispel the general apathy that surrounds the question of enlargement. 
On 16 November the EU Council formally approved Albania’s application for accession to the Union. Guardian columnist Peter Preston argues in favour of an emerging country whose enthusiasm for the European project is a welcome antidote to eurosceptic cynicism. 
Europe and America are trying to obtain an agreement between Bosnian leaders on the reform of the constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, the Croatian daily Novi List reports that the EU appears to be unable to exert much pressure in the negotiations, which may prove crucial to the future of the country. 
The re-election of José Manuel Barroso represents an opportunity to “complete” Europe over the next five years and make it a real global player. According to political analyst José Ignacio Torreblanca, the president's focus should be on three major issues: internal cohesion, enlargement and the European Neighbour Policy. 
From 1st January, 2010, Muslim Bosnians and Kosovans will be the only citizens of the former Yugoslavia required to obtain visas to enter the European Union. Sarejevo daily, BH Dani, explains how impartial principles will result in discriminatory practice. 
The enthusiasm with which member states have welcomed Reykjavik's request for accession to the EU is in marked contrast to the prudence — and in some cases hostility — which has greeted similar requests from the countries of ex-Yugoslavia and Turkey. But the EU cannot afford to give the impression that certain candidates enjoy special privileges. 
Croatia's prime minister resigned July 1 because his country's future accession to the EU had been called into question. In Macedonia too, the EU aspirant government is fragile. As the European dream recedes, the more Western Balkan states are destabilised, writes British researcher Ian Bancroft in the Guardian. 