DG Enlargement: newsletter of 23 April 2009

Details announced of new cross-border pre-accession programmes

Details of cross-border cooperation programmes for Albania, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were announced in Brussels on 6 April.

Free and fair elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

"I welcome the overall satisfactory conduct of the presidential and municipal elections in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia", said European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on 6 April, after the second round of elections held on 5 April.

Reform urged after Montenegro elections

"I trust the new government will pursue the country’s reform agenda and its progress towards the EU", said European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn after the parliamentary elections in Montenegro at the end of March.

Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Albania in force

The Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the EU and Albania entered into force on 1 April.

A "window of opportunity" for Bosnia and Herzegovina

"2009 is an important year for Bosnia and Herzegovina and a window of opportunity for progress", said Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, on 31 March, after talks in Brussels with Valentin Inzko, the new EU Special Representative - and High Representative of the international community -in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Progress still awaited on the border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia

The EU Presidency Trio (France, the Czech Republic, Sweden) met EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn on 1 April.

Boosting Kosovo’s* European perspective

EU foreign affairs ministers discussed ways of fostering the European perspective of Kosovo in the context of the Stabilisation and Association process when they met on 28 March at Hluboká nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic. *Under UNSCR 1244/1999

EU confirms its support for the Western Balkans

"The progress of the Western Balkan countries towards EU membership can be accelerated provided they meet the necessary conditions", according to the EU Presidency statement on fostering the integration momentum in the Western Balkans issued after the 28 March informal meeting of foreign ministers’ at Hluboká nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic.

Bringing reconciliation to the Western Balkans

"Reconciliation, good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation are fundamental elements of the European policy for the Western Balkans", European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told a conference organised by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in Brussels on 2 April.

Commission fully engaged with Turkey’s accession process

The European Commission "remains fully engaged in Turkey’s EU accession process", European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee in Brussels on 31 March.

What next for EU enlargement?

Many Europeans have questions about EU enlargement in the middle of the economic crisis, and the debate is likely to get livelier in the run-up to the European elections, admitted European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn at a meeting in Brussels on 31 March to draw up a balance sheet of EU Enlargement five years on.

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