Europe-East articles from April 2008

Europe-East archives from April 2008

EU BUDGET : ANNUAL SURPLUS CONTINUES TO FALL.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... For six years, the EU's annual budget surplus has continued to fall, decreasing from a peak of 15.003 million in 2001 to 1.529 million in 2007. Therefore, last year, member states' contributions almost exactly matched the agreed spending for...

UNION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN : EIB AND COMMISSION PRESENT PROJECTS FOR MED UNION.(European Union. European Investment Bank)
April 28, 2008... Addressing the pollution of the Mediterranean Sea is likely to become one of the key objectives to be announced during the launch summit of the Union for the Mediterranean (UM), to be held in Paris on 13 July. On 10 April, the European...

EU/MONTENEGRO/WTO : EU GIVES BOOST TO PODGORICA'S WTO ACCESSION.
April 28, 2008... The EU has given a strong boost to Montenegro's accession to the World Trade Organisation, as the European Commission became the first WTO member to give its go-ahead to Podgorica's accession to the Geneva-based organisation on 15 April. David...

EU/BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA : ADOPTION OF POLICE LAWS MOVES BOSNIA A STEP CLOSER TO THE EU.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... In a late-night session on 10 April, the Bosnian lower house of parliament adopted legislation on police reforms, paving the way for the country to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union by the end of...

NATO : ALLIANCE PUTS OFF MEMBERSHIP FOR UKRAINE AND GEORGIA.(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... NATO leaders, gathered in Bucharest on 3 April, decided, at the end of fierce discussions, to commit to allow Georgia and Ukraine join their ranks, but refused to grant them official candidate status as the two countries had wanted. Their...

EU/MEDITERRANEAN : BARROSO CALLS FOR URGENT DELIVERY OF MEDITERRANEAN UNION PLANS.(european union)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... It is urgent to turn the Union for the Mediterranean (UM), which was endorsed by EU leaders at the last European Council,ainto reality, says European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Speaking at the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary...

EU/TURKEY : BARROSO: CONSENSUS AND COMPROMISE KEYS TO EU ENTRY.(european union)
April 28, 2008... All forces in Turkey should engage in a dialogue to seek "consensus and compromise" on issues related to the ongoing debate in the country on the separation of church and state, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on the last...

EU/MONTENEGRO : BARROSO PRAISES PODGORICA'S PROGRESS, URGES FURTHER EFFORTS.(european union)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Following the publication of official election results, the European Commission's President, Jose Manuel Barroso, congratulated, on 8 April, Filip Vujanovic on his re-election as president of Montenegro. Barroso stressed that since gaining...

ENLARGEMENT : BARROSO: ZAGREB CAN CONCLUDE ACCESSION TALKS IN 2009.
April 28, 2008... Zagreb should be able to conclude its EU accession negotiations in 2009, provided a number of conditions are met, the European Commission's President, Jose Manuel Barroso, said at a joint press briefing with Croatia's Prime Minister Ivo...

EU/SERBIA : BELGRADE CONFIRMS COMMITMENT TO EU BID.(european union)
April 28, 2008... Serbia remains committed to the European integration process, but is not ready to soften its position on Kosovo's independence and move towards cooperation with the EULEX mission. "The Serbian government is ready to sign the Stabilisation and...

EU/SERBIA : BELGRADE'S PRO-EU FORCES WANT SAA SIGNED IN APRIL.
April 28, 2008... One month ahead of the parliamentary elections in Serbia, which are seen as an important litmus test of the country's support for the European integration process, the speaker of the parliament in Belgrade, Oliver Dulic, a member of the pro-EU...

CANADA, JAPAN RECOGNISE KOSOVO.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Following in the footsteps of the United States, Canada formally recognised the independence of Kosovo, on 18 March. Ottawa made a point of underlining that this did not constitute a precedent to be exploited by the Quebec separatist movement,...

EU/RUSSIA : CHIZHOV: NEW PRINCIPLES SHOULD NOT BE TESTED ON RUSSIA.(european union)
April 28, 2008... Russia is looking forward to opening negotiations with the EU on a new strategic partnership agreement, but the future talks should not be negatively affected by the interests of the individual member states, the Russian Ambassador to the EU,...

CYPRUS REUNIFICATION : CHRISTOFIAS: ANNAN PLAN NO BASIS FOR TALKS.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The newly-elected Greek Cypriot President, Demetris Christofias, has warned his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, against putting on the negotiating table the Annan Plan (which was overwhelmingly rejected by Greek Cypriots in 2004)...

EU/MEDITERRANEAN : CLOCK TICKING FOR UNION FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN.(european union)
April 28, 2008... Much work still needs to be done over a very short period of time in order to launch the Union for the Mediterranean (UM), on 13 July, during an extraordinary summit in Paris, as decided by EU leaders during the last European Council. The...

EU/RUSSIA/WTO : COMMISSION REGRETS MOSCOW'S INCREASE OF EXPORT DUTIES ON WOOD.
April 28, 2008... The European Commission has reacted angrily to Russia's decision to raise export duties on wood, saying that the case was a major obstacle on Moscow's road to World Trade Organisation membership. "It is disappointing. We regret Russia's...

EU/FYROM : COMMISSION URGES SKOPJE TO PRESS ON WITH REFORMS.(European Union. European Commission)(Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The European Commission called, on 14 April, for a quick formation of a new government in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) after the early elections scheduled for 1 June. "It is important for the EU aspirations of the country...

EU/CROATIA : COREPER VERIFIES CROATIA'S OPENING BENCHMARK.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper) has given a positive assessment of Croatia's fulfilment of the opening benchmarks in the justice, freedom and security chapter (24) of the country's EU negotiations package. This decision, of...

CROATIA TO JOIN MEDIA 2007 PROGRAMME.
April 28, 2008... Croatia signed, on 17 March, a memorandum of understanding with the European Commission on its participation in the MEDIA 2007 programme. The total budget for the programme is 755 million for 2007-2013. "I warmly welcome the entry of Croatia in...

ENLARGEMENT : CROATIA TO REQUEST TRANSITION PERIOD ON SALE OF LAND TO FOREIGNERS.
April 28, 2008... Zagreb appears set to ask for a transition period on the sale of land to foreigners. In order to prevent its landa- highly attractive for tourists and investors - from being sold to citizens of EU member states, Croatia wants to receive a...

EU/CYPRUS : CROSSING REOPENING "AN IMPORTANT SYMBOLIC STEP" FOR EU, CYPRUS.(european union)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The European Union welcomed a decision by rival Cypriot leaders to reopen a street running through the divided capital of Cyprus as "an important symbolic step". The decision to reopen the Ledra Street crossing was announced on 21 March after...

CYPRUS WILL NOT RECOGNISE KOSOVO.
April 28, 2008... The newly elected President of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, will strictly follow the policy of his predecessor, Tassos Papadopoulos, on Kosovo. He confirmed, on 13 March, that his government had decided not to recognise the independence of...

EU/SERBIA : DEPUTY PREMIER DJELIC VOWS TO SIGN STABILISATION PACT.
April 28, 2008... "The pen is in my bag," Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic told Europolitics New Neighbours on 14 April when asked if he was ready to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. Djelic said the Serbian...

ENLARGEMENT : EP: ACCESSION TALKS WITH CROATIA SHOULD END IN 2009.(European Union. European Parliament)
April 28, 2008... The European Parliament adopted, on 10 April, by overwhelming majority of 588 votes (39 against, 22 abstentions) an own-initiative report by Hannes Swoboda (PES, Austria) on Croatia's 2007 progress towards EU accession, confirming its support...

EUBAM MOLDOVA-UKRAINE MISSIOTRANSNISTRIA, A THORN IN EUROPE'S SIDE.
April 28, 2008... Europolitics New Neighbours accompanied a delegation of the European Parliament's Defence Subcommittee on a visit to the EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) to Moldova and Ukraine, and was able to talk to the main local and European officials...

EU EXTENDS BELARUS SANCTIONS.
April 28, 2008... The European Union decided, on 7 April, to extend for a further year, until 10 April 2009, the travel restrictions and freezing of financial assets against certain Belarus officials in response to continuing breach of human rights, including in...

EU HAILS OPENING OF NICOSIA STREET.(European Union. European Commission)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... The European Commission and the Slovenian EU Presidency hailed the opening of the Ledra Street crossing point in Nicosia, on 3 April, which for nearly half a century has been symbolising the territorial and ethnic division of the island. This...

EUROPEAN SUMMIT : EU LEADERS CAUTIOUSLY ENDORSE SARKOZY'S MEDITERRANEAN UNION PLAN.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... EU leaders have given the go-ahead to a Franco-German proposal to create a Union for the Mediteranean (UM) to give a new impetus to the Euromed Partnership but further tough negotiations would be needed before an agreement could be reached on...

ENLARGEMENT : EU OPENS TWO NEW CHAPTERS WITH CROATIA.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... Croatia's accession negotiations moved forward, on 21 April, after the Council agreed to launch talks with Zagreb on two new chapters: transport policy (14) and energy (15). With this decision a new phase has opened in the country's EU...

EU/CENTRAL ASIA : EU PUSHES FOR MORE INTENSE COOPERATION WITH CENTRAL ASIA.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... "Expanding dialogue", as well as defining concrete actions to be taken to deepen cooperation in such areas as energy, education, security and human rights, was the main focus of the high-level meeting between the EU Troika delegation and the...

EU/MOLDOVA : EU PUTS CONDITIONAL' TRUST IN MOLDOVA.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... Moldova is one of the best-performing countries among over a dozen of the EU's neighbours that participate in the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)(1) This young state (independent from the USSR since 1991) between Ukraine and Romania has...

EU-RUSSIA MEMORANDUM ON TRADE IN PLANT PRODUCTS.
April 28, 2008... Following months of difficult negotiations, the European Commission and Russia signed, on 26 March, a memorandum on the safety of plant products for human consumption that "is expected to facilitate dialogue between the two sides" on current...

EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY : EU TO DEEPEN TIES WITH ISRAEL, MOLDOVA, MOROCCO AND UKRAINE.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... In order to reward the best-performing members of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)(1) and to inject a dose of constructive competition among all countries participating in this almost fife-year-old policy, the European Commission decided...

EU/RUSSIA/GEORGIA : EU WORRIED ABOUT RUSSIA SUPPORTING ABKHAZIA AND SOUTH OSSETIA.
April 28, 2008... The European Union and NATO expressed, on 17 April, their profound concern about Russia's recent moves to establish legal links with Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said, on 16 April,...

WESTERN BALKANS : FOREIGN MINISTERS REAFFIRM REGION'S EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE.
April 28, 2008... The EU's foreign ministers reconfirmed the European perspective for the Western Balkan countries at their informal meeting attended by their counterparts from the region, on 29 March in Brdo (Slovenia). However, they made it clear that the...

EU/SERBIA : HOLLAND REMAINS OPPOSED TO SIGNING SAA WITH BELGRADE.
April 28, 2008... Despite an intensive diplomatic offensive undertaken by Serbia's President Boris Tadic and his political allies from the pro-European Democratic Party (DS), the Dutch government remains opposed to signing a Stabilisation and Association...

KOSOVO ADOPTS CONSTITUTION.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Kosovo's leaders signed, on 7 April, the country's first constitution, which is based on the plan drafted by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. President Fatmir Sejdiu said that the document "paves the way for the long-awaited process of...

KOSOVO PARLIAMENT ADOPTS CONSTITUTION.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Kosovo's parliament unanimously endorsed the country's first constitution, which declares it a secular republic, "an independent, sovereign, democratic, unique and indivisible state" with its own "Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry, security...

BORDER MANAGEMENT REFORM : MEMBER STATES CAUTIOUS ABOUT NEW REGIME.
April 28, 2008... The European Commission's far-reaching plans to beef up the protection of the Union's external borders have opened up deep divisions among EU member states. The split was exposed at a ministerial conference on external border management, held...

EU/TURKEY : MEPS WANT ANKARA TO INTENSIFY REFORM EFFORTS.
April 28, 2008... The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee adopted, on 21 April, a report on Turkey's progress in negotiations towards eventual EU accession, calling on the government in Ankara to step up the adoption and implementation of reforms,...

JUSTICE AND HOME AFFAIRS : NGOS CRITICISE UNION'S ASYLUM SYSTEM.
April 28, 2008... Just ahead of a meeting called to chart a future asylum policy for the European Union, refugee-assisting organisations have criticised the current asylum mechanism and called for a fairer and more efficient system. A new report on EU...

EU/TURKEY : PRESIDENCY CALLS OFF ACCESSION CONFERENCE WITH ANKARA.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Due to "insufficient progress in negotiations," the Slovenian EU Presidency has cancelled an accession conference with Turkey, which was supposed to take place on 21 April. The reasons for calling off the meeting were "purely technical," a...

EU/FYROM : PRESIDENCY URGES SKOPJE TO STAY ON EURO-ATLANTIC COURSE.(European Union)(Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia)
April 28, 2008... The Slovenian EU Presidency urged the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) not to back out from the UN talks on the name issue' with Greece and called on Skopje to continue EU-related reforms despite a negative decision taken at the...

NATO/RUSSIA : PUTIN STANDS FIRM AGAINST NATO.(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)(Vladimir Putin)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... President Vladimir Putin maintained, on 4 April, Russian opposition to a US missile defence system and NATO's enlargement during the NATO-Russia Council, after the NATO summit in Bucharest, officials said. No progress was reported, but Putin,...

EU/TURKEY : REHN: CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS WON'T AFFECT ANKARA'S EU BID.(European Union)(Olli Rehn)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said, on 16 March, that the ongoing internal dispute in Turkey over secular versus religious traditions will not affect the country's accession talks. "It should not [affect Turkey's EU bid], and it is...

EU/TURKEY : REHN SEES "NO JUSTIFICATION" FOR BANNING RULING AKP.
April 28, 2008... The EU has expressed its concern about the Turkish Constitutional Court's decision to proceed with the case seeking to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), underlining that there is "no justification" for such a move. "According...

EU/BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA : REHN WELCOMES FINAL APPROVAL OF POLICE REFORM BILL.(Olli Rehn)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn got his breath back, on 16 April, when the upper house of the Bosnian parliament adopted by overwhelming majority the long-delayed police reforms, paving the way for the signing of the Stabilisation and...

EU/RUSSIA/POLAND : RUSSIA LIFTS RESERVATIONS ON TRADE IN POLISH PLANT PRODUCTS.(European Union. European Commission)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Russia's sanitary and phytosanitary watchdog, Rossielchoznadzor, confirmed, on 26 March, that the memorandum on the safety of plant products signed the same day between the European Commission and Russia puts an end to Russia's embargo on the...

ANTI-MISSILE DEFENCE : RUSSIAN-AMERICAN COMPROMISE IN THE WORKS, WITHOUT THE EUROPEANS.
April 28, 2008... In the run-up to the NATO summit on 4 and 5 April in Bucharest, the US and Russian positions seemed to be drawing closer. The main subject of disagreement has been the anti-missile defence system that the United States wishes to install in...

RUSSIAN MPS CALL FOR RECOGNITION OF ABKHAZIA AND S OSSETIA.(Russia's State Duma Committee)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Russia's State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs approved, on 17 March, a draft statement calling on the Russian government to start working out a procedure for the formal international recognition of the unrecognised republics of Abkhazia and...

EU/UKRAINE : SEEKING NEW WAYS TO COOPERATE IN CIVIL PROTECTION.(European Union)
April 28, 2008... How can the cooperation agreement on civil protection and response to disasters be reinforced and improved? This was the main question debated during the meeting, on 17 March in Brussels, between the Ukrainian Emergency Situations Minister,...

KOSOVO/SERBIA : SERBIAN MINISTER PROPOSES KOSOVO'S ETHNIC DIVISION.(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... A Serbian minister has proposed the ethnic division of Kosovo, the disputed territory which proclaimed independence from Serbia on 17 February, according to a newspaper report on 22 March. The key point of the accord offered to the UN mission...

EU/SERBIA : SERB NATIONALISTS ACCUSE SOLANA OF "INTERFERING IN ELECTIONS".
April 28, 2008... The nationalistic anti-European forces in Serbia have responded with strong irritation to comments made by Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, on the need for a quick signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with...

EU/SERBIA : SIGNING OF SAA COULD TIP BALANCE IN FAVOUR OF PRO-EU FORCES.(stabilisation and association agreement)
April 28, 2008... The signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) would not only facilitate the electoral victory of pro-European forces in Serbia, but could also help the whole Western Balkan region, in particular Kosovo, to achieve stability...

EU/RUSSIA : TALKS ON PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT TO RESUME.(European Union)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... Poland has decided to release its stranglehold on the negotiations for an EU/Russia partnership agreement, which have been held up by its veto since October 2006, said Prime Minister Donald Tusk on 20 March. "Poland will not demand any...

VUJANOVC WINS PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN MONTENEGRO.(Filip Vujanovic)(Brief article)
April 28, 2008... According to unofficial results, Filip Vujanovic, a pro-European member of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), won the presidential elections held on 6 April in Montenegro. He took 52% of the votes, which clinched him victory in...

EUROPEAN COUNCIL : WARSAW WANTS UKRAINE CLOSER TO THE UNION.
April 28, 2008... In order to prevent the attention of the EU from being over-focused on its southern neigbours at the expense of its eastern partners, Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk has put forward a proposal to draw Ukraine and other countries in the...

INTERVIEW WITHaCROATIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER GORDAN JANDROKOVIC : ZAGREB EXPECTS TO OPEN SIX NEW CHAPTERS BY MID-YEAR.
April 28, 2008... Croatia is now facing a decisive period in its EU accession talks. By the end of June this year, it has to meet all remaining opening benchmarks in 11 areas to be able to conclude the negotiations by autumn 2009. The country's Foreign Minister,...