"Irish No won't affect enlargement"

Slovenian FM Dimitrij Rupel and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn say the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty has nothing to do with the union's enlargement. Many European leaders pointed out prior to the Irish referendum that the Lisbon treaty, which aimed to simplify the procedure of the EU decision making, was crucial for the enlargement process. "Irish No won't affect enlargement" Today, Rehn said that the Irish rejection will not have direct influence on the enlargement process, because "the decision to start talks with Croatia and Turkey was made unanimously by all the EU member states". "The clear and concrete evidence that the process of the EU enlargement is continuing, are the two conferences on association with Croatia and Turkey tomorrow. We intend to open several negotiating issues with them,” Rehn said on his arrival to the EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxemburg, news agencies reported. "These are two separate issues,” said Rupel, whose country is nearing the end of its EU presidency, adding that the “enlargement process was initiated with a unanimous decision of the EU countries,” Slovenian news agency STA said. Earlier, it was reported from Luxembourg that one of the issues on the agenda as the EU foreign ministers meet will be the situation in the Western Balkans. The last meeting of the kind during the Slovenian presidency over the 27-nation bloc, that of the Council for General and Foreign Affairs, is taking place Monday and Tuesday. The future French, Czech and Swedish presidencies will prepare the 18-month framework GEARC program, reports suggest. The EU heads of state will meet next week in Brussels, but the prepared conclusions do not mention Serbia, or the situation in Kosovo. On the other hand, Novi Sad's Dnevnik quotes its sources that say the document will "mention only Serbia" as a country that could speed up its association process. However, during the working lunch, the foreign ministers could touch on Serbia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, forming of the government, EULEX mission in Kosovo after UN Sec.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon's letters and also on the situation in Kosovo after its constitution took effect. Yesterday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told FoNet news agency in an interview that Serbia can only hope to become a candidate for EU membership once a government is formed in Belgrade that will cooperate with the Hague, implement the SAA and work on fulfilling conditions for the liberalization of the visa regime. All of these Western Balkans issues, however, will remain in the shadow of the EU's latest crisis, brought on by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty.

"Irish No won't affect enlargement"

Today, Rehn said that the Irish rejection will not have direct influence on the enlargement process, because "the decision to start talks with Croatia and Turkey was made unanimously by all the EU member states".

"The clear and concrete evidence that the process of the EU enlargement is continuing, are the two conferences on association with Croatia and Turkey tomorrow. We intend to open several negotiating issues with them,” Rehn said on his arrival to the EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxemburg, news agencies reported.

"These are two separate issues,” said Rupel, whose country is nearing the end of its EU presidency, adding that the “enlargement process was initiated with a unanimous decision of the EU countries,” Slovenian news agency STA said.

Earlier, it was reported from Luxembourg that one of the issues on the agenda as the EU foreign ministers meet will be the situation in the Western Balkans.

The last meeting of the kind during the Slovenian presidency over the 27-nation bloc, that of the Council for General and Foreign Affairs, is taking place Monday and Tuesday.

The future French, Czech and Swedish presidencies will prepare the 18-month framework GEARC program, reports suggest.

The EU heads of state will meet next week in Brussels, but the prepared conclusions do not mention Serbia, or the situation in Kosovo.

On the other hand, Novi Sad's Dnevnik quotes its sources that say the document will "mention only Serbia" as a country that could speed up its association process.

However, during the working lunch, the foreign ministers could touch on Serbia's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, forming of the government, EULEX mission in Kosovo after UN Sec.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon's letters and also on the situation in Kosovo after its constitution took effect.

Yesterday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told FoNet news agency in an interview that Serbia can only hope to become a candidate for EU membership once a government is formed in Belgrade that will cooperate with the Hague, implement the SAA and work on fulfilling conditions for the liberalization of the visa regime.

All of these Western Balkans issues, however, will remain in the shadow of the EU's latest crisis, brought on by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty.