The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is participating actively in regional cooperation and further developing its bilateral relations with its neighbours. However, the name issue continues to affect relations with Greece, reads the European Commission’s 2009 progress report on the country, published Wednesday. The document stresses that relations with Greece …

Croatia has made good progress in meeting the benchmarks set in the accession negotiations. This surfaced today during the presentation of the EU 2009 enlargement strategy and progress reports for the countries from the Western Balkans and Turkey.

Albania has continued to make some progress in strengthening its government structures. At the same time, it needs to further strengthen the capacity, coordination and strategic planning for EU integration, reads the European Commission’s 2009 progress report for the country.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn says the European Commission, EC, has recommended that Macedonia start its EU accession negotiations. The move marks the country’s first major step towards integration in the bloc since it was granted the status of an EU candidate state in 2005. However, the report has not …

Enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn has confirmed Brussels’ stance that Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot think seriously about European integration until the Office of the High Representative, OHR, is closed. “No quasi-protectorate can join the EU,” Rehn said. The EU “membership of Bosnia and Herzegovina could only be considered once [the] OHR …

The Appelate Chamber of the Hague Tribunal has postponed the beginning of Radovan Karadzic’s trial by seven days to allow him to study the revised indictment. In the same decision, the Chamber refused Karadzic’s request to have an additional ten months to prepare his defence. The former president of Republika …

Bosnian Serb leaders have rebuffed a package of reforms and incentives proposed by the US and EU to end Bosnia’s political crisis. The package was presented at emergency negotiations held at Butmir military camp near Sarajevo last week. A group of EU and US technical experts has remained in the …

The European Commission, EC, will release an opinion on Montenegro’s application for EU membership in autumn 2010. The progress report on Montenegro shows that the country’s relations with the EU have been positive and that Podgorica has continued to make progress in fulfilling political criteria. However, the country continues to …

Romanian opposition parties agreed on Wednesday to nominate the mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Johannis, for the prime minister’s office, following Tuesday’s collapse of the Democratic Liberal government. The Social Democratic Party, PSD, Liberals, PNL, and ethnic Hungarian UMDR party were unanimous in deciding to put their collective political weight behind …

European Parliament, EP, rapporteur on visa issues, Tanja Fajon, has reiterated her strong support for the inclusion of western Balkan states in the EU visa-free scheme. Fajon said she believes that all nationals of western Balkan states should be allowed to travel freely to EU member states, as soon as …