The hopes of Bulgaria and Romania of joining the Schengen visa zone had a major setback on June 9 2011 when European Union justice and home affairs ministers decided to postpone a decision on the applications.

European Union interior ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday and Friday to take a decision on Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the border-free Schengen area. The meeting comes just a day after the non-binding vote of the European Parliament, which voted in favor of allowing

Serbian President Boris Tadić believes the Dutch parliament and countries that have not ratified the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) will do so soon.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić and Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Teodor Baconschi signed an agreement on readmission in Bucharest on Wednesday. This, said the Serbian Ministry of the Interior, represents one step further in Serbia’s EU integration.

The head of the EU mission in Kosovo reiterates that political will from Belgrade and Pristina is necessary to improve the situation in the north. Xavier De Marnhac, head of the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, said recently that he is interested in expanding the rule-of-law in the disputed …

Bulgaria’s government, which is struggling to ensure swift entry into the EU border-free Schengen area, has reiterated the country has met all conditions for accession.

There is no indication that ex-Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic is suffering a terminal illness but he is still undergoing tests in prison, a UN war crimes court spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The Dutch parliament today decided not to ratify the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) before Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s official report. The SAA was signed between theh EU and Serbia in the spring of 2008, and must be confirmed in parliaments of all EU member-states.

The European Union (EU) has not promised Serbia to launch the accession talks but Belgrade will do its best to achieve this goal, said Serbian President Boris Tadic. “No one has promised a date for launching the accession talks,” Tadic said during the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the …

Turkey is to establish a European Union ministry after June 12 parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. “The ministry of the EU will coordinate the affairs for Turkey’s EU bid,” Erdogan said in his televised remarks at his party’s headquarters in Ankara.