Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU wary of diplomatic fallout from Iceland move

  • "We must not lose sight of the need to further stabilise and integrate South East Europe," enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said. (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

The EU has tried to ward off any potential ill feeling in the Balkans after quickly accepting Iceland's accession bid.

EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday (27 July) restated their "full support for the European perspective of the Western Balkans" and promised to shortly recognise Albania's application.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I hope we will be able in the next few months, and stretching beyond the Swedish presidency, to give a new impetus to the integration process in the Western Balkans," Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt said.

"We must not lose sight of the need to further stabilise and integrate South East Europe," enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn added.

The remarks came after the EU formally accepted Iceland's request to join the bloc just three days after it was made. Balkan nations such as Montenegro have in the past had to wait up to four months for the green light.

Mr Rehn noted that he was in Podgorice last Thursday promoting EU visa free travel on the same day that Iceland handed over its EU bid in Stockholm.

Montenegro, Macedonia and Serbia are set to enjoy visa-free entry into the EU from 1 January 2010.

"I do not happen to have a Montenegrean one, but this is the key to visa free travel in the EU [passport-free] Schengen area," the commissioner said, holding up a Serbian biometric passport at Monday's press event.

EU-Balkan relations are mired in bilateral problems on top of a negative political climate toward enlargement.

Greek foreign minister Dora Bakoyanni on Monday said Greece would veto starting accession talks with Macedonia unless the country changed its name, which is also the name of a Greek province.

Slovenia on Friday also blocked the opening of another negotiating chapter in Croatia talks amid an ongoing dispute over maritime borders.

'By the book'

Mr Rehn said that Iceland's EU application will be treated "by the book" but explained that it already observes two-thirds of EU laws as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA), a 1994 trade pact.

"It took us a longer time to negotiate membership in the EEA than from that point to negotiate membership in the EU," Sweden's Mr Bildt pointed out.

Iceland's EU entry will not be a walk in the park, however.

Dutch EU ambassador Tom de Bruijn on Monday ruffled feathers by saying Iceland must repay €1.3 billion of debts caused by a 2008 bank collapse before its EU bid goes ahead.

"The Brits [which are owed €2.6 billion] are no longer making this a condition. But the Dutch want their money back," an EU diplomat said.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us