EC Touts Croatia Progress, Recommends Accession Talks with Macedonia

The European Union took a step further its plans for expansion into the Balkans, saying that Croatia is nearing the conclusion of its entry talks and the Republic of Macedonia is ready to start them.

Croatia is likely to conclude accession negotiations next year, advancing toward becoming the EU’s 28th member, the European Commission said today. It urged opening talks with Macedonia and hailed the pro-EU government in Serbia, the largest ex-Yugoslav republic.

Croatia remains the region’s frontrunner, following the restart of entry talks this month after a border dispute with Slovenia, the only ex-Yugoslav republic in the EU, delayed the process for nine months.

Croatia needs “sustained efforts” to overhaul its shipbuilding industries, must free judges of political constraints, work harder to battle corruption and hand over more documents to investigators of war crimes from the 1990s, the commission said.

“Croatia has made good progress in meeting the benchmarks set in the accession negotiations and negotiations have now formally resumed following the political agreement between Slovenia and Croatia over handling the border issue. Croatia will need to pursue its reform efforts, in particular on the judiciary and public administration, the fight against and organised crime, and minority rights,”

The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has made important progress and has substantially addressed the key accession partnership priorities, the commission said.

It considers that the country sufficiently fulfils the political criteria set by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 and the Stabilisation and Association Process and therefore has decided to recommend the opening of accession negotiations.

“While we have seen progress in terms of stabilization in the western Balkans, the progress achieved is not irreversible,” EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters in Brussels, as cited by Bloomberg agency. “Political minefields remain.”

The darkest spot on the Balkans regional map is Bosnia- Herzegovina, site of the worst bloodshed during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and the scene now of pitched political battles between its Serbian and Muslim-Croat halves.