Croatia’s road to EU-membership – that is supposed to be realized on July 1, 2013 – has been lined with impediments and complex European context: enlargement fatigue within the EU, boarder conflict with Slovenia, a global financial crisis with repercussions to the EU and Croatia, just to mention a few. Still, a clear majority of the Croatians said yes to EU-membership in a referendum on January 22, 2012. “All the hardship makes this success even larger”, said Andrej Plenković, Croatian MP representing Hrvatska demokratska zajednica (HDZ). The HDZ-lead Government concluded Croatia’s accession negotiations in June 2011, at the end of the Hungarian EU Presidency.
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Croatia New EU-member 2013 – and Serbia to Start Talks about Membership
October 17th, 2011 Articles | Croatia | Serbia | The European UnionIn a report issued on October 12, the EU Commission stated “that Croatia meets the political criteria and [the Commission] expects Croatia to meet the economic and acquis criteria and to be ready for membership by 1 July 2013.” At the same time the Commission recommended that the Council grant Serbia the status of candidate and give green light for accession negotiations with Montenegro.
In a set of annual reports – issue on October 12, 2011 – the Commission informed on the progress towards EU accession made by the Western Balkans, Turkey, and Iceland over the past year. (more…)
Conference on the Developments in the Balkans
May 14th, 2011 Albania | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Macedonia | Seminars | Serbia | The Balkans | The European Union
Oskar Öholm greeting Nicola Lazic. Flaked by Stefan Dragojevic, Kire Ilioski and Jens Ahl.
On May 13-14, 2011, the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation organized a round-table conference with leaders from cooperation partners in the Balkans. The conference focused on the continued integration of the Balkan states into Europe as well as other aspects of the European Union.
“The Countries in the Balkans have to push for membership. The EU never invites anyone to join,” said Walburga Habsburg Douglas, MP and member of the Hjalmarson Foundation board. Her view was shared by the participants. (more…)
High Level Conference about the Balkans and the EU
May 8th, 2010 Albania | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Croatia | Macedonia | Seminars | Serbia | The European Union
Standing are Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Milošoski from Makedonien (to the left) and Genc Pollo, Minister for Innovation and ICT in Albanien.
May 7-8, the Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation arranged a round table conference on the EU integration of the Balkan countries. The participants were high level politicians from the Foundation’s sister parties in four Balkan states. The group consisted of some 20 politicians including two ministers – the Macedonian Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Milošoski and Genc Pollo, Albanian Minister for Innovation and ICT.
Among the issues discussed at the conference were membership and security in the Balkan region. Göran Lennmarker, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs and the Chairman of the Foundation, reminded the participants that although the path to a membership may seem endless to the Balkan countries, the situation was once the same for the Baltic states. Today, those countries are all EU-members.
Numerous participants noted that Sweden is the most enlargement-friendly member of the Union. In addition, they emphasized that this, the third Balkan conference arranged by the Foundation, constituted an excellent opportunity to “openly discuss problems and exchange experiences among friends”.
The participants discussed obstacles on the path to full EU membership – such as bilateral conflicts. Nevertheless, the participants agreed that there is indeed a development in the right direction.
- Since we met last time, we have achieved visa freedom for, for example, Serbians, said Nikola Lazic, Serbian parliamentarian and International Secretary for the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS).
The participating parties where Albanian Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, Bosnian Partija Demokratskog Progresa and Stranka Demokratske, VMRO-DPMNE from Macedonia and Serbian Demokratska Stranka Srbije and G17Plus.
Exporting EU-Education, is the headline in the December issue of Medborgaren, the member magazine published by Moderaterna. It tells the story about the Jarl Hjalmarsons Foundation tailoring education in cooperation with its sister party in Croatia.
