Albania and Croatia - new NATO members

Yesterday Albania and Croatia have completed the accession process, and have joined the Alliance as members.
Since 1949, NATO’s membership has increased from 12 to 28 countries through six rounds of enlargement. Albania and Croatia, which were invited to join NATO at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, formally became members when the accession process was completed on 1 April 2009.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has, like Albania and Croatia, been participating in the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for a number of years to prepare for possible membership. At Bucharest, Allied leaders agreed to invite the country to become a member as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the issue over the country’s name has been reached with Greece. A number of other important decisions concerning enlargement were taken at Bucharest. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro were invited to start Intensified Dialogues on their membership aspirations and related reforms. Allied leaders also agreed that Georgia and Ukraine – which were already engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO – will become members in future.
A flag-raising ceremony marking the accession of Albania and Croatia will be held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 7th.

See also: NATO enlargement

Slovenië ratificeert NATO akkoorden Albanië en Kroatië

Slovenia's parliament ratified the NATO accession of Albania and Croatia on Monday, paving the way for the alliance’s enlargement in the Balkans.

Slovenia’s ratification was keeping NATO officials on their toes. The border dispute with Croatia has already posed big problems in Zagreb’s path towards European Union membership, with Slovenia blocking Croatia's EU accession talks in December. Many in NATO feared that Slovenia might do the same for Croatia’s membership in NATO, leaving both Albania and Croatia out and overshadowing the summit marking the 60-th anniversary of the alliance.

The protocol for Albania was backed unanimously in the Slovenian parliament. Croatia's passed by a large majority although nationalist parties called for a boycott.

Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor said before Monday's vote that the NATO membership issue was different from the EU accession process.

"Slovenia's national interests are not endangered by the debate on Croatia's accession to NATO," he told deputies and urged them to back the ratification.

Source: BalkanInsight

Obama in the Balkans

Albania

Obama To Create New Values-Albania “Barack Obama’s presidency will create a new chapter of values, not only for the United States, but for the rest of the world,” Albanian Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha said. Albanians are very pro-American and the US elections are often presented as a standard of democracy in the country, where after 17-plus years of tumultuous transition, electoral practices are still substandard.

Macedonia - Greece

Macedonia Fears Obama Tilt, Greece Confident Macedonia looks to the inauguration of Barack Obama with some trepidation about a possible shift in the United States' position on the name dispute with Greece, while Athens appears quietly confident that the new US president will be more sympathetic to its stance. Washington recognized Macedonia under its disputed name during George W. Bush's second term in office, leading Macedonians to view his Republican party as more positively inclined towards them. Many fear that Obama, being a Democrat, might reverse that policy, and find cause to worry in him having signed a pro-Greek initiative back when he was a senator. Commenting on the election of Obama as President, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said his election was hopeful for Greece. She pointed out that he had supported all resolutions and proposals that were in line with Greek interests as a senator, even referring to Macedonia as 'the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)' -- the name it is using in the UN and other international bodies at Greece's insistence.

Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki said that the new US administration consists of people who know well the situation in south Eastern Europe, and "this could be an advantage that we might use.”“We will continue using consultancy to get in touch to the new administration and most importantly we will bring our political decisions that concern the US in close cooperation with them,” Milososki recently told.

Former minister and Social Democrats MP Radmila Sekerinska noted that the appointment of Hilary Clinton as the head of US foreign policy was also a good omen.“Her supporters, her family and husband played a great role in settling the Balkan crises in the past”, she said, referring to Bill Clinton's role in ending the Kosovo crisis. Sekerinska added that the support of the Republican former United States Secretary of State Collin Powel for Obama’s presidency was a good sign, because “Powel was one of the strongest supporters of Macedonia and according to many the decisive factor for the US recognition of our constitutional name."

In a letter to Obama, Macedonian Prime Minister Gruevski stressed the importance Skopje places to its strategic partnership with Washington. He is convinced that “the US will continue supporting Macedonia to take its well-deserved place in NATO as soon as possible”.

Serbia

Obama "Will Not Mean Change For Serbia Zivorad Kovacevic, a former Yugoslav ambassador to the US and current head of the European Movement NGO told Serbia's Novosti daily that US policy in the Western Balkans would stay in line with current positions."The US administration will be less arrogant and ready to listen, but Obama's policy is the same as Mccain's in context of Serbia and Western Balkans" Kovacevic said, adding that Washington has no dilemmas on Kosovo's status."The story is over for Obama," said Kovacevic. "The new administration believes there is no need to open new talks, neither international nor between Serbia and Kosovo. Obama has called for dialogue only in Kosovo between Serbian communities and the authorities in Pristina, and asked the Serbian government to show understanding for the new reality. Kosovo and Serbia are not among the new administration's 20 priorities." Kovacevic added that Obama supported Serbia's path towards the European Union, but would also insist on the arrest of Mladic. Above all, he said, the US expected Belgrade to not start trouble. "Washington will not mind Serbia sticking to its position about not recognising Kosovo's independence, but it will expect it to contact Kosovo's government specifically on matters regarding the Serbian community and cultural and religious artefacts," he added.

Kosovo

Obama Posters Flood Kosovo, Raise Hopes

Ahead of his inauguration as the 44th United States president, Barack Obama's winning smile is plastered on billboards and posters all around Kosovo, the most pro-American nation in Europe due to US support for its secession from Serbia. Washington was among the first capitals to recognise Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia last year, and has continued to stress its support for the Albanian-majority state in international forums. The US was also instrumental in the 1999 NATO bombing that expelled Serb forces accused of ethnic cleansing while fighting a counter-insurgency war.

Obama's path to the White House was keenly watched in Kosovo, with his foreign policy statements covered daily and scrutinised for hints of his future direction on the territory's progress towards full statehood.Recognised by most European Union countries, Kosovo is still under the mandate of international supervisors and is blocked from entering the UN and other international organisations by Serbia and it's big-power ally Russia. Politicians recognise they rely on the US for muscle, and from early on started efforts to lobby the new president, sending him a letter of congratulations on his victory. Political analysts say US foreign policy toward Kosovo will not change as Obama had shown his support for Kosovo's independence both with statements and by the choice of his team. “His political cabinet composed of Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton, both important figures in Kosovo’s history, testify as to his approach and attitude toward Kosovo”, analyst Mufial Limani for Balkan Insight. According to him, the US doesn’t have a “mystic love for Kosovo" but specific interests, adding that its foreign policy was driven by an agenda to protect human rights and spread democracy around the world.

Bosnia

Bosnia Hopes Obama Renews US Role In Balkans

Like in many other countries which are dependent on even the slightest shift in the US foreign policy, the inauguration ceremony of the new US president was broadcast live in Bosnia by several local TV and radio stations. Preoccupied with Afghanistan and Iraq and wanting the European Union to pick up the slack in its own back yard, the previous US administration under George W. Bush significantly reduced its political, military and financial presence in the Balkans. The shift coincided with deepening political deadlock in Bosnia and new tensions in Kosovo, Serbia and Macedonia, leading local and international analysts to warn that the situation requires renewed international attention and a new strategic approach from the West. Commentator Vlastimir Mijovic told state television that because of his culturally and ethnically mixed background, the new US President may have a better perspective on what is going on, and what is needed, in the Balkans.

Romania

Obama Offers Hope to Romania’s Gypsies

Romania's Gypsies, or Roma, once enslaved like African-Americans, and still struggling to overcome deep-seated prejudice seem particularly inspired by Barack Obama’s victory in the US Presidential Election. "When you see that an African-American becomes president, it shows you that the dreams can turn into reality," said Gruia Bumbu, chairman of the National Agency for the Roma. "It's like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the fight for equal opportunities can have a happy ending." Source: BalkanInsight.com

Balkan Reforms Lag, Economic Freedoms Weak

Economic freedoms in the Balkans are suffering because of bloated governments, state monopolies, inconsistent regulations and widespread corruption, said the 2009 Index of Economic Freedom report, which stressed that further economic and fiscal reforms were crucial at a time of global recession.

Out of all Balkan countries, Bulgaria was the front runner coming in at 56th place. There was respectable showings by Albania at 62nd place, Romania at 65th and Slovenia at 68th place, which however managed the biggest gains in economic freedom in Europe, improving its score by 2.7 points in 2008.

Macedonia and Montenegro placed in the middle tier, ranking 78th and 94th respectively. The biggest laggards of the region were Serbia at 109, Croatia at 116 and Bosnia-Herzegovina at 134, just ahead of Ethiopia.

"Business freedom, government size, monetary freedom, investment freedom, and freedom from corruption are weak," the report said of Serbia, while on Croatia it noted that its "overall weakness stems from its outsized government", while "in addition to high levels of government spending, the government's presence in other key areas of the economy is considerable."

Bosnia's position at the bottom of the European pile, ahead only of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, was due to the "inefficient and high government spending, weak property rights, and widespread corruption" that "hold down overall economic freedom...and discourage entrepreneurial activity."

"As a result of sluggish privatization of state-owned enterprises, the private sector's contribution to GDP has grown rather slowly," the entry on Bosnia added. "Bureaucratic and non-transparent regulatory systems remain a problem for foreign investors and domestic entrepreneurs."

The report said the low flat tax rates of 10 to 15 percent – among the lowest tax rates in the world – along with strong focus on privatization and internal structural reforms were a driving force for strong growth in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia in 2008.

source: BalkanInsight.com