Word: serbia
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...While Serbia has traditionally been closer diplomatically to Russia than to the West, its current leadership is pro-Western and has announced its desire to apply for EU membership in the first half of 2009. The Serbian populace would almost certainly look more favorably on their pro-Western governing coalition if joining the EU becomes a more realistic goal...
...Serbia is still barred from entrance into the EU, however, by several problems, most notably its failure to comply with EU demands that it arrest Ratko Mladic, a former Bosnian Serb general who is accused of carrying out the massacre at Srebrenica during the 1992-5 Bosnian war. The EU has made it clear that Mladic’s capture will be one of the conditions of Serbia’s membership...
...near future, Brussels should make it clear to both Belgrade and Pristina that membership is a very real possibility for both—assuming, of course, that they fulfill all the requirements of membership in the near future. This would have major implications for regional stability: Serbia would be discouraged from trying to reclaim Kosovo by force because of the consequences such an action would have for its EU membership...
...Integrating Serbia and Kosovo into the EU can only remain a far-off prospect until Brussels finishes the accession processes of the more stable Balkan nations that are ready, or close to being ready, for membership. However, the bids of several countries in the region are becoming unnecessarily protracted, leading one to wonder whether the EU’s drive to incorporate the former Yugoslav states will ever be completed...
...Kosovo and Serbia are certainly not ready for EU membership right now and probably will not be for some time–-at least until Serbia agrees to at least a de facto recognition of Kosovo’s independence and Kosovo can govern itself without the assistance of NATO forces deployed there. Nevertheless, the EU can and should play its own role in shaping the politics of this region by showing Kosovo and Serbia that it intends to extend EU membership to both of them when they are ready. This is the only way to permanently bring stability...