Griekenland en Oostenrijk komen met plan voor Balkan-uitbreiding op (en)
The foreign ministers of Greece and Austria have sent a joint letter to EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton i, outlining their common vision for what the bloc should achieve in 2010 in the western Balkans.
The EU should complete accession talks with Croatia, respond to Serbia's bid to join the bloc, start membership negotiations with Macedonia and abolish visas for Albanians and Bosniaks, the document quoted by DPA says.
"Progress in the Balkans is not yet self-sustaining. Moreover, in economically difficult times, many doubts are voiced regarding the European perspective of the western Balkans,'' Dimistris Droutsas of Greece and Michael Spindelegger of Austria argue in the letter.
The two ministers also call for strengthening ties with other EU candidates such as Albania and Montenegro, and for "concrete progress through the EU's engagement in Kosovo, whose independence is still not recognised by all member states."
The two ministers offered this plan as the basis of discussions for a meeting between EU and Balkan leaders due to take place at the end of May in Sarajevo.
In Macedonia's case, however, it is a bilateral name dispute with Greece that is currently stalling its EU accession track.
The common letter calls for "a mutually acceptable solution to the issue of the name of the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia (FYROM)."
Athens rejects the country's name as it coincides with that of one of its own provinces. The mediation process is led by the United Nations and has so far failed to provide a solution accepted by both sides, despite international pressure.
In December, EU leaders decided to postpone for the first half of 2010 a decision on opening membership talks with Skopje. Such a decision requires unanimity from the member states, including Greece. Macedonia's Nato membership has also been blocked by Greece until the name debacle is resolved.
Mr Spindelegger last week visited both Skopje and Athens in an attempt to re-energise talks. He said Austria could only "suggest help", if necessary, as the mediation is carried out by the UN, the Macedonian daily Vecer wrote.
Austria, whose former empire once stretched to the Balkans, promotes itself as an advocate for the region's EU aspirations. Vienna's vision is to see all the countries of the western Balkans join the EU by 2020, Mr Spindelegger said last week in a speech outlining the foreign policy priorities of his country, Tanjug reports.
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