Kroatië en Servië beloven Balkan-vetes geen belemmering te laten zijn voor functioneren binnen EU-verband (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The presidents of Croatia and Serbia on Saturday (27 March) jointly pledged that when they are EU i members they will not use bilateral disputes to block the EU path of other Balkan countries.
"Croatia is definitely not going to misuse its position of EU member on its neighbours who are still outside," Croatian President Ivo Josipovic said during the Brussels Forum, a conference organised by the German Marshall Fund, a Washington-based think tank.
The classical music composer, who won the presidential elections early January added that he had promised during his campaign that "there will be no preconditions [for other countries' membership] and bilateral issues are not going to be mixed with European questions."
His remarks were echoed by his Serbian counterpart Boris Tadic, who also promised that "we are not going to condition any other country's integration to the European Union."
If Croatia were to join 2012 as expected, "this would also be a success for Serbia," Mr Tadic said.
EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fuele, also present at the event, said the joint commitment of the two presidents was "historic", only a decade after their countries fought a devastating war.
He stressed the importance of regional cooperation and said the joint commitment of the two presidents not to involve bilateral disputes in their EU talks was a valuable step forward.
"If we allow the accession process to deal with bilateral issues, then we'll be doing a bad service to the enlargement process. I feel this is being understood more and more in the region," Mr Fuele added.
Croatia's EU accession talks were blocked last year by another former Yugoslav country, Slovenia, which is already an EU member, due to a maritime border dispute between the two. And the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia's aspirations to join both the EU and Nato have been held up by Greece, which objects to the name of the country as it coincides with that of its historic province.
Mr Josipovic's statements, while reassuring, are however not binding for either the current or the next government who will actually represent the Croatia at EU level.
Zagreb hopes to conclude negotiations with Brussels this year, in order to join the 27-member club in 2012. Once inside the EU, it could theoretically sabotage Serbia's bid, which has still a much longer way to go.
Croatia's most likely bilateral disputes with its former arch enemy Serbia concern war compensations, prosecution of war criminals, but also an unsettled border on the river Danube.
Belgrade, for its part, could halt EU membership plans of its former province Kosovo, whose independence it does not recognise.
But Mr Tadic claimed this would not be the case, as a "compromise solution" could be worked out in the mean time.
"We are trying to find a compromise solution that can be a contribution to regional stability. We are really ready to achieve the final compromise," he said.
Mr Tadic said he was happy that Brussels is not linking Serbia's own EU aspirations with the issue of Kosovo, "because otherwise the integration process would be blocked."
In a press conference later that day, Mr Tadic said Belgrade had an interest in seeting all the citizens living in Kosovo join the EU one day, but stressed that his country would never recognise the independence of its former province.