Paris, 16 June 2010 – Conclude negotiations with Croatia in a year’s time; open them with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; accord Albania, Montenegro and Serbia candidate status and open negotiations over accession procedures; consolidate Bosnia and Herzegovina as a unitary state in order to accelerate its progression towards Europe: these are the phases in the roadmap proposed by Italian member of parliament Piero FASSINO (Italy, Socialist group) in his report on “The EU and the western Balkans” approved unanimously today in Paris by the plenary session of the European Security and Defence Assembly/Assembly of WEU.

15 years after the Dayton agreements were signed and 10 years after the war in Kosovo, Mr FASSINO said the time had come to bring the process of stabilisation to completion by integrating the Balkan countries fully and finally into the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic institutions.

“European integration had begun 50 years ago with the aim of putting an end to the centuries of war that had torn the continent apart. The accession of Spain, Portugal and Greece lifted these countries out of the darkness of dictatorship. With its eastward enlargement, the EU brought democracy and development to a region that had for decades been burdened by oppression and poverty”, as Mr FASSINO recalled.

Today the EU could give each of the Balkan states – historically in conflict with one another – the opportunity to envisage a future where they are no longer pit against their neighbours but stand side by side with them. And even the more sensitive issues – strengthening the unity of the Bosnian state or relations between Kosovo and Serbia – could be resolved more easily within the context of European integration.

It was vital therefore that the EU should take concrete steps to confirm its willingness to integrate the western Balkans as had been reaffirmed at the conference held in Sarajevo on 2 June, he added.

The recommendation contained in Mr Fassino’s report is also addressed to the players within the region, encouraging them to seek joint solutions to the disputes that remain unresolved. It calls on the authorities in Kosovo and Serbia to resume bilateral talks and on the Kosovo authorities to guarantee the rights of the Serb minority there. It urges the three ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina to work to strengthen state unity; and invites Greece and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to accelerate the negotiations to find a mutually acceptable solution regarding the official name of the latter and calls on divided political forces in Albania to bury the hatchet. Lastly the governments of all the countries of the region are urged to respect the human, civil and religious rights of all individuals and communities.   

Following the presentation of the report, Mr Pjer ŠIMUNOVIÈ, State Secretary at the Croatian Ministry of Defence, said he considered that his country could complete the EU accession process “by the end of the year”. He spoke in favour of extending enlargement to all the countries of the western Balkans and stated that “Europe will surely benefit from the contribution all its countries can ultimately make. … That contribution will be based on their energy, culture, vitality, diversity and economic potential, as well as on their enthusiasm for Europe, which can only strengthen and rejuvenate the Union”. He further hoped that the accession of Croatia might serve as a catalyst for other Balkan states to “remove the obstacles” to their candidacy and future accession.