Kosovo row mars EU-Balkans summit
By Mark Lowen
BBC News, Ljubljana
Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/8577597.stm
Published: 2010/03/20 02:18:10 GMT
Western Balkan leaders and EU delegates are meeting in Slovenia to
attempt to present a common front in the region’s path towards EU
membership.
But Serbian President Boris Tadic is boycotting the event because of
the presence of Kosovo’s prime minister.
Belgrade rejects the declaration of independence by Kosovo – Serbia’s
southern province – two years ago.
It is a major blow to the event and to the changed image that the
region is now trying to present to Brussels.
EU integration
The original aim of bringing all Western Balkan leaders together here
in Slovenia was to show regional unity – that despite the conflicts of
the 1990s and ongoing internal and bilateral problems, all countries
are now determined to march forward together towards the goal of
European Union membership.
The challenges each face are substantial.
Bosnia is in a state of political paralysis, with the different ethnic
groups failing to agree on any meaningful reform.
Albania is still in its transitional phase from years of communist
isolation to fully-functioning democracy.
Macedonia’s progress is blocked by a dispute with Greece over its name.
But the most intractable problem of all is that of Kosovo – Serbia’s
southern province which declared independence two years ago, an act
which Serbia refuses to recognise.
Despite last minute diplomatic negotiations, Serbian President Boris
Tadic has decided to boycott the summit because Kosovo’s Prime
Minister Hashim Thaci is attending.
But the conference will go ahead anyway, with analysts believing that
Serbia will begin to change tack once the International Court of
Justice delivers its verdict later this year on the legality of
Kosovo’s independence – a symbolic opportunity to begin a new chapter
in Serbia-Kosovo relations.
Many tough years of reform still lie ahead for the majority of these
countries on their paths to the EU, but membership is seen as a way of
pacifying a still fragile region and drawing a line under its
turbulent past.
And for Slovenia – the host of this summit and the only EU member
among them – it is a way of leading by example, of saying: "We managed
to get there – now you should all follow suit."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
