Solana backs "pro-EU" parties in elections

I hope the Serbian electorate tell the hypocrites in the EU in no uncertain terms where to go and stuff it. That they had enough of their lies bully tactics hypocrisies. Undermining their country at every step and they are not interested of becoming a slave to EU Brussels.

Martin,

It IS contrary to practices elsewhere in the EU and elsewhere generally. It is an unstated rule of diplomacy that the conduct of an election is purely the business of the people of the relevant country. The Irish do not interfere in British elections and vice versa. The French do not interefere in....etc etc.

The interference of Solana and Rupel is just one more example of the arrogance of these people as if they know what is best. They should shut up.

Bang on Tom,

Not even 24 hours after elections were called; the interference and scaremongering from the West commences. If the Radicals win thats it, all bets are off and its open season on the Serbs.

What have the EU to offer Serbia? Absolutley nothing but a slap in the face.

Most of the EU countries have shown that they are not Serbia's friends, and have absolutely nothing to offer Serbia. This is the same Solana that was cheering the illegal and criminal round the clock bombing of Serbian infrastructure for 78 days, and now is all of a sudden pretending to be our 'friend'?
Serbs are not stupid, we know who is who. The only reason Tadic narrowly won the last election is because he vowed never to give up Kosovo. That is the ONLY reason.
He has now shown his true colours, he is a hypocrite. I expect the Serbs to vote in someone who will defend their territorial integrity, first and foremost. That is the duty of any government.
The scaremongering won't work, and who needs the EU anyway when you have trading partners like Russia, China, India, Brazil, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Cyprus...just to name a few, who RESPECT Serbia's legal borders.
We don't need them, and in this election we should show the EU, NATO and all those others what we think of them and their ofers of 'friendship'. We should show them our back side. Serbia is already in Europe, and they can do nothing about that.

Here we go again with our friendly Europeans who wish us only well and no any ill to us. They already started, just one day after the government collapsed. I expect more loud invitations from Europeans and more sweet carrots during the lections. It is only the question will Serbs fall once more for these carrots with the long sticks. I hope not this time.

Bad luck, Solana! Serbia is already part of Europe, belongs to it - long time before even you were born. ;-)

Uran,

Stop playing the victim already. . .you're not fooling anyone anymore.

Let me summarize what's "fresh" in peoples minds:

1)2,108 people were confirmed killed on all sides including Serbs and Albanians, soldiers and civilians

2) the mass exodus of Albanians was spurred by NATO bombs and fomented by the CIA/KLA to garner sympathy for the NATO war effort (by the way, they're all back. . .and then some!)

3) after 1999, thousands of Serbs have been murdered, hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee the Albanina terror campaign

4) over 150 Serbian churches have been destroyed; a pathetic attempted to eradicate the cultural existence of the province's indigenous Serbian population

All this was done under NATO's watchful eye.

So if anyone lost the 'moral authority' to govern the province of Kosovo. . .it's NATO and their Albanina proxies!

Will someone please tell Solana and Rupel to observe international norms of behaviour and keep their noses out of the Serbian elections. Diplomats or politicians with any integrity do not interfere in this manner.

Serbia, with its territory intact, wishes to join the EU. That has always been clear.

Given that the two issues have been previously stated not to be linked, the EU should not abuse or confuse a pro-vote for EU candidates with a referendum to give up Kosovo.

The rapidity and the glee with which the EU encouraged the UDI straight after Tadic was elected was unseemly.

The EU needlessly risked Serbia's democratic future by encouraging the UDI. The EU has been irresponsible.

I don't see why EU officials shouldn't be able to state their preferences with regards to the Serbian elections. It's not undemocratic and it's not contrary to any of the practices we see elsewhere in the EU.

It is however quite tactless and will probably polarise Serbian politics even further. Doesn't Solana understand that he is not well-liked in Serbia given his role in the 1999 bombings? Does he think most Serbs will take his advice as that of a benevolent source?

All parties are pro-EU. The difference is in the method of membership.

The Tadic way is to have Serbia sleepwalk into it and hope Solana/EU/US will keep Kosovo within Serbia. Tadic just needs to keep his fingers crossed and wish for the best.

Or the Kostunica way is to fight to keep Kosovo Serbian and to make the EU realise further negotiations are needed if they really want Serbia.

Of course Solana prefers the Tadic way but I doubt the EU will turn its back on Serbia regardless of who wins. The Kostunica way will just make life that much more difficult for the EU and force a compromise.

No compromise is needed for Tadic. The EU plan continues as before.

i say let the man talk! :)
solana, keep talking, media, keep reporting :))

@(ahmed, 10 March 2008 15:53)

For the Kosovars what matters is economic development and membership of EU and NATO in the next 4 or 5 years.

--------------------------



Make that 40 or 50 years.

Turkey is busy getting EU memberschipt since the 80's and still isn't in.
Croatia started the process almost 17 years ago, it even hasn't got kandidat-memberschip status.

5 years hahahaha, not even in youre wildest dreams that's gonna happen.

If it ever is going to happen, unlike you like to think that membership to EU & NATO works on 2/3 majority, it really works on consencus, that means EVERY current member has to agree, and with non-recognizing members in the EU & NATO becomming member off those 2 by Kosovo is IMPOSSIBLE.

@(ahmed, 10 March 2008 17:49)

Again, again agin.

1.
Even BEFORE Kosovo can get just 1 agreement signed with the EU ALL current EU members first have to recognize Kosovo (No THIS IS NOT AN MAJORITY THING BUT AN CONSENSUS (ALL MEMBERS HAVE TO AGREE)).

2. Maybe youe institutions may be up to speed, but also youre economy has to be up to speed, and that alone will take more than 20 years, even with the help of the US & EU.

You have an balance off approx 0,5 billion euro for 2 miljon people, the dutch government has 166 billion euro for 16 miljon people, see the enourmous gap???

whe have 8 times more people, but we have an economy that's 300+ times bigger, even to be considerd you'l need an economy that's at least halve as big as ours.

Face it, kosovo isn't going to be in the EU or the NATO for a long, long time.
Come back over 50 years.

'''Today, the EU high foreign policy representative said in Brussels that "it is important that the parliamentary elections will take place" and that "this will be a chance for the people of Serbia to choose a way forward".

The Serbian have chosen already, many times, to look toward the EU and have always been let down by the EU taking and demanding more. At some point, when th ecurrent actions are not working (Looking toward the EU) you try something else.

Solana hopes the DS-G17 bloc wins the elections. I hope democratic elections can be held without foreign intervention. It is quiet shocking that Solana is trying to circumvent fundamental democratic principles in this important election.

We are quite happy with Solana commenting on who should be elected to govern a foreign country, but for our part, we hope the radicals win because that means Kosova will become an EU member before Serbia ever does.
(Ardian, 10 March 2008 12:49)

Just to let you know my friend, there are six countries in the EU that oppose your independence and that will not let you get in. And even though Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia yield under the pressure, there is no way that Cyprus and Spain are going to give in, seeing as they are some of the most economically advanced in the EU. Oh, and another thing, did you know that yesterday, Kostunica mentioned 3 or 4 countries that have UDI and that have been recognized by about 70 countries each. But you don't see them on the map, do you?

Solana is actively helping the nationalists win because he doesn't want Serbia in the EU and he has to have a "reason" to reject Serbia. Why would he be saying these things if this were not true? He could keep his mouth shut. This leads to what I have been posting to B92 for almost a year now:
Serbia, the EU doesn't want you and that's okay. There are plenty of non-EU countries to trade with and Serbia can still sign trade agreements with individual countries in the EU. These stories about isolation are myths: Serbia will never be isolated.
Serbia has been subjected to the worst propaganda attack in history; for the past 17 years.

Solana yust speaks for himself..the mayority of spaniards thinks EU is already too big !

Uran, what in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster are you talking about?

My anecdote had nothing to do with what happened 200 years ago, but with what happened immediately after 9/11 with the French being the symbol of anti-Americanism. You might have heard of our little attempt at renaming French Fries, French Toast, and anything else with the name "France" in it - Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast? Hell, we even tried to rename Saurkraut "Liberty Cabbage" because the Germans were annoying us too. So Kerry comes out and says something akin to him being "Europe's preferred candidate", and Americans, out of spite, reelect Bush (though by a slim margin). My point here is that national elections, wherever the are, are just that - "national". Candidates who seek, or are backed, by international forces, regardless of the reason, can be seen as having more loyalty to outside interests than the interests of their state.

I think you read WAY too much into my comment. It was meant to be funny. Apparently, my attempts at being humourous went down in a fiery Blitzkrieg of Death.

Crveni Vuk,

If Serbia chooses the Radical/Kostunica way and becomes a Russian satellite than Ardian will be definitely right. There will be no entry for Serbia but entry for Kosovo.
The entry is not for tomorrow. First the EU will prepare Kosovo economically with a lot of aid. Once Kosovo is ready the big countries will make sure that your friendly Cyprus doesn't block it. By the way I was trilled to learn from you that Cyprus is an economically advanced country.
Wow. Good for them.
(Joe, 10 March 2008 15:19)

You have just shown how naive you are. The UN has been pumping billions of dollars into Kosovo over the last 9 years, and there has been no result. As for "the big countries blocking Cyprus", how can they do that? Cyprus is a member of the EU, which means it has the right to a veto. And since they are ECONOMICALLY ADVANCED, you can not bribe them with donations and aid. By the way, have you ever BEEN to Kosovo, or do you just read those Western newspapers thay say everything is great in Iraq, Iran etc.

As far as Rupel is concerned, "Serbia has no other possibility but the EU", agencies also reported.

It has - Territorial integrity,pride, non-humiliation and chance to develop independently W/O interference by EU Commissars, regards investments by non-EU members etc.
Serbia will be humiliated time and again and again...
Does membership in EU provide a MAGIC WAND ??

Spot on, Tom. Solana, Rupel, and the rest of the EUrocrats with funky glasses need to realize their vocal support may backfire. They can silently cheer for Tadic or Dinkic, but they need to keep a very low profile.

All Kostunica has to do is say Tadic is an EU puppet, and capitalize on the national populist vote. Not a good thing.

Take the US, my little Slice 'o' Heaven. Back in the 2004 elections, John Kerry said he received the backing of most European leaders. What did we do? Vote for George again. Bush may have been an idiot, but a vote for Kerry was seen as a vote for France.

Could someone please explain to me why it is that the EU insists that Serbia wants to become an EU state and that they must push for membership ASAP? Would it really bother them if Serbia decided against it and perhaps took up a similar position as Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are to the EU? I really doubt the sincerity of the EU with regards to Serbia, it is just another collector's item they want to add. Why are they pushing Serbia so hard here?

On the other hand, I can't understand Serbia's blind worship of Russia. Don't get me wrong, I love the Russian people, but the government and heir policies to anyone smaller than them is not something I wish for Serbia. As a Pole being born, raised and still living in a once dominated ex-Russian colony practically, it is not a great prospect either in any way.

Best thing for Serbia: unaligned movement. Yugoslavia was a great example of this mentality and world view. I think Serbia should push for this sort of existence, it worked for them before, no doubt it would work for them again. Why should there only be pro-West and anti-West states? Serbia could be a guiding light for countries like the Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Moldova perhaps.

So if anyone lost the 'moral authority' to govern the province of Kosovo. . .it's NATO and their Albanina proxies!
(Nemanja, Connecticut, 10 March 2008 20:13)

Not only that, US and it's so called coalition drop illegal depleted Uranium bombs in all of Serbia including Kosovo.

The Albanian extremists still thank the US for an environmental wasteland left in Kosovo.

Let me ask the young people of Kosovo how they will live and work when they will be cut down with various diseases and cancers. Its already happening In Pancevo and the Danube across all over Europe.

The hypocricy is that Al Gore is awarded the Nobel Peace prize for polluting the Balkans.

We are quite happy with Solana commenting on who should be elected to govern a foreign country, but for our part, we hope the radicals win because that means Kosova will become an EU member before Serbia ever does.

"Could someone please explain to me why it is that the EU insists that Serbia wants to become an EU state and that they must push for membership ASAP? Would it really bother them if Serbia decided against it and perhaps took up a similar position as Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are to the EU? I really doubt the sincerity of the EU with regards to Serbia, it is just another collector's item they want to add. Why are they pushing Serbia so hard here?"
---
(Peter Sudyka, 10 March 2008 20:46)

There is nothing honest in the EU's approach to Serbia. A cat and mouse game, it can be called. Please open up your eyes - all the EU wants is to humiliate Serbia! It wants to restore the 'good old world order' of colonial superiority!
So beware!
By the way, some great views, Peter Sudyka! :-)

Crveni Vuk,

If Serbia chooses the Radical/Kostunica way and becomes a Russian satellite than Ardian will be definitely right. There will be no entry for Serbia but entry for Kosovo.
The entry is not for tomorrow. First the EU will prepare Kosovo economically with a lot of aid. Once Kosovo is ready the big countries will make sure that your friendly Cyprus doesn't block it. By the way I was trilled to learn from you that Cyprus is an economically advanced country.
Wow. Good for them.

Solana - are you REALLY the rep. for the EU's 'high' foreign policy???
jeeezzzz.

Have a feeling this article is going to get a lot of posts.. :)

Every day with more Kosova recognitions as an independent state we become more stronger and respectable
in the eyes of the world.
Solana as the chief EU foreign policy adviser has his views which are not much use to the Kosovars.It doesn't make any difference which goverment is elected in Serbia.For the Kosovars what matters is economic development and membership of EU and NATO in the next 4 or 5 years.

Ment,

“… Go ask Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland,…”

If you didn’t notice EU, changed a lot in the mean time. Back then, rules were the same for all countries. Each new member was immediately entitled to full rights. Not any more. These days it is on a case to case basis. Each new member has to accept a lot of restrictions, which makes him basically second class member. There are no rules or guaranties that he will ever achieve full rights.
Development fonds are much smaller. I will not even begin about “democracy” of decision making process and influence of small countries in EU. Add to that fact that number of big countries is hostile to us. They are doing everything they possibly can to weaken us. I don’t think they will stop that policy any time soon and make us reach and happy all of sudden.

“… EU does NOT need Serbia and/or the rest of the Balkans, but the Balkans do need the EU. Serbia has no other possibility but the EU…."

I do not agree. World changed a lot in the couple of decades of globalization. US and West Europe lost a monopoly on the technological innovation and production. There is absolutely nothing what Europe produces that we can’t by cheaper in Asia. After all, Europe is buying there as well. Raw materials are even easier to come buy. I agree with a Peter here:

“… unaligned movement. …. Serbia could be a guiding light for countries like the Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Moldova …”

Unaligned movement has huge potential. Our prominent position in that club was one of the main reasons for destruction of Yugoslavia.YU was relatively big country, (in European context), reasonably prosperous, with independent foreign policy and alternative social system and model of economy possibly attractive to the countries in transition. Empire would have none of it. It has to go. In its place they installed number of small, impoverished, banana republics completely dependent and easy to manipulate.
As for Russia, Peter, as you probably know, our historical experience is quite different then yours. Poland was a major power in its hay days and you and Russians were entangled in centuries long struggle for supremacy. Over the time, luck changed many times, and with it your roles of victims or villains. In our case, during long centuries of Turkish terror, our major hope for freedom was Russian help. Especially in the later period of decline of Ottoman Empire, when Western powers actually supported Turkey. Russia was a savior of all Orthodox nations in the Balkans, not only Slavs. I think that all Orthodox still regret western intervention on Turkish side which prevented Russian army to bring Constantinopolis back to Orthodox world. Back to our time, I think that it would be very wise for Serbia to cooperate very closely with a Russia. It will benefit both sides. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t cooperate with everybody else of the good will as well, especially our friends from the Third world. SFR Yugoslavia basically operated in that way. We had good relations with East and West and everyone else interested. Serbia could do the same with exception of number of reach Western nation hostile to us.

Not Important [sic],

Really?

I wonder. . .did you receive one of these leaflets that were disseminated to Kosovo Albanians in April 1999, one week after the bombing campaign began?:

(translated to english)

FELLOW CITIZENS

We invite you to temporarily evacuate the endangered territories of the Republic of Kosova, due to the ongoing major offensive by the Serbian occupation forces. We cannot protect you, and neither can the Kosova Liberation Army.

We need to save our people and our lives. Therefore, proceed immediately towards Albania and Macedonia.

We have asked NATO to help us in our struggle against the Serb occupation forces, because these forces have launched a great offensive in the entire territory of the republic of Kosova. We are getting this help, but the KLA is not able to fully resist the offensive and defend the Albanian people.

Therefore we call on all Albanians who face danger from the Serb occupation troops to evacuate to Albania and Macedonia.

Ibrahim Rugova
President, Republic of Kosova

Mike

The situations are a bit different.

Most Americans think their country is the greatest in the world (rightly or wrongly) and the conservatives especially, thought they could go it alone. The Americans were angry at Europe's opposition to Iraq's war, so obviously Kerry miscalculated, to put it mildly. Now most Americans (I hope), have come to realize that they need to cooperate with Europe to get things done.

In the Balkans however, the situation is completely the opposite. Someone would have to be delusional to think that their country is the greatest in the world and better than the EU. Almost, all Balkans countries, Serbia included want to improve their standing in the internation pecking order by being in the EU some day. Had it not been for Kosovo that would have applied to the Serb radicals too.

Just a reality check here...The EU does NOT need Serbia and/or the rest of the Balkans, but the Balkans do need the EU.

To Nemanja,
To say that the flux of almost a million refugees can be faked in the 21-st century just shows your ignorance. If you wanted to find out the truth you would have travelled to Macedonia for example and find out the reason why all those people had to run away.
It's just insult to me and all those people that had to run away from our homes and leave everything behind becuase of how serbians treated us, and I have to listen to you to tell me "the truth" that I had to leave because of NATO?! Shame on you! I guess to you we kosovo albanians are some animals that we would "protect" NATO, CIA, and KLA under any circumstances just to for some reason "punish" Serbia.
By the way, leave US if there are that bad and "hate" serbs so much. Maybe Rusia or China would be more suitable for your kind since according to you they are way more democratic then US.
Also what happened in March 2004 is unfortunate in Kosovo just plainly wrong. All the polititians in Kosovo condemed those actions and a few of them even went into the crowds to try and calm people down. Unlike you at least I know right from wrong and don't try to cover up the truth about a crime.

Ronald
The reason that EULEX has taken over in Kosova is to preapare the country for eventual membership.EULEX will be bring Kosova institutions to EU standards within the next 4 to 5 years.
Kosova is only 2 million and not 80 million like Turkey.
The EU doesn't want Turkey because with qualified majority decisions Turkey will have the upper hand.The EU will be happy to have Kosova as a member.

Why is the EU insiting so much to integrate Serbia when they clearly want to join Russia? This is so stupid!

Tom and Niall...

In most instances, yes I would agree that foreign entities should not interfere in a country's elections, but as usual there are exceptions. After all, this rule is more of a "gentleman's agreement."

Well, there's nothing gentlemanly about Kostunica and company. To draw a parallel... if someone in a foreign country wanted to get elected and uses Ireland as a punching bag to do so, don't you think Ireland is entitled to express its disapproval of that candidate?

As far as slaps in the face go... I've said it before and reiterate again here. Go ask Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and the recent newcomers on whether they benefited from the EU or not.

"SFR Yugoslavia basically operated in that way. We had good relations with East and West and everyone else interested. Serbia could do the same with exception of number of reach Western nation hostile to us.
(Stevan, 11 March 2008 01:10)
Your vote has been recorded ­ thank you for participating."

Exactly what I mean. Only thing I disagree with is closing relations with hostile states, I believe that free trade should not be hampered. This is precisely why SFR Yugoslavia was the richest of the socialist states, more so even than Czechoslovakia, because it wasn't limited by the COMECON, but had free trade with everybody.

Indeed also Serbia had a different relationship with Russia, pity we didn't, would have worked to both our advantages today if we weren't so caught up in our nationalist chauvinism towards each other then.

"Just a reality check here...The EU does NOT need Serbia and/or the rest of the Balkans, but the Balkans do need the EU."
(Ment, 10 March 2008 16:17)

Can be just the contrary. And those Euro-busybodies can seldom keep their fingers from their 'new projects'.

"Solana yust speaks for himself..the mayority of spaniards thinks EU is already too big !
(Luigi, 10 March 2008 18:28)

Now that 'the circle is almost completed' anyway, the EU probably wishes to add the few remaining Western Balkan countries to it, too. Another thing being Russia!

Stevan

If Serbia was in the EU, they would have to abide by the EU regulations, but countries like Norway and Switzerland have their own separate regulations regarding trade, just free trade with the EU who in no way dominate their everyday functioning and do not influence them that much.

I also don't like this missile shield idea, Tusk said he would consult with Russia, but he hasn't, all he wants is to upgrade the army by giving land for the shield. I can understand loyalty to whoever you are allied with, but I cannot understand why it has to be to antagonize a country who is not happy about it.

Sometimes I wish Poland would act more as a mediator between the US as an ally and Russia as an ex-ally, rather than the dog on a leash we are being now. Serbia has the opportunity to be that mediator, though after Kosovo I can't blame them for bonding with Russia.

Mike,

“Take the US, my little Slice 'o' Heaven. Back in the 2004 elections, John Kerry said he received the backing of most European leaders. What did we do? Vote for George again. Bush may have been an idiot, but a vote for Kerry was seen as a vote for France.”

I though you couldn’t understand the fact that Kosovar Albanians don’t like Serbs, yet you talk about your views towards France as if France was your biggest enemy. What happened in Kosovo is still fresh, and I believe the soil in Kosovo is still wet from the blood that was shed 9 years ago. But let me STOP for a moment, because what you just said is funny, yet disgusting at the same time.
You didn’t want to vote for Kerry because of something that happened more than 200 years ago, but you had no problem voting for an idiot? I guess that explains a lot. I believe you gave me a good explanation why Europeans are very reserved towards U.S.

Joe

It's not just Cyprus, also Spain, Greece, Romania and Slovakia that oppose. That's a lot of countries to convince if Kosovo wants to join the European Union.

ahmed

Kosovo has an economy no stronger than most African states. It has no army either. It will take much, much longer than 4-5 years, trust me, make it 14-15 years rather. Kosovo should not focus on trying to reach membership of organizations that they are simply not capable of joining (not even mentioning vetos by many states involved in the latter two), rather they should drag their economy out of the gutter first.

Cyprus is a member of the EU, which means it has the right to a veto.!
(Crveni Vuk, 10 March 2008 19:24)

Dear Crveni Vuk,

I think you show me that you are very naive. Cyprus carries a marginalised weight at the EU inspite of the fact that it is a EU member. When push comes to shove Cyprus gives in for whatever big power ask. Very simple. EULEX mission was vetoed by Cyprus despite intial threat at the beginning. So even if Kosovo is ready to join the EU Cyprus or any other country (apart from UK, FRance, Germany and Italy)will have to open the way...and silebtly agree...

I hope this will serve you as a good as a lesson how EU institutions/bureaucracy... works

On 10 March 2008 17:49, Uran wrote:

> You didn’t want to vote for Kerry because of something that happened more than 200 years ago, but you had no problem voting for an idiot?

No. France opposed the US in the UN Security Council over the invasion in Iraq.

Prishtinas, The Republic of Kosova

What about Spain, Romania, Greece and Slovakia?

Ment,

many of your arguments have that all to familiar (to me at least) air of a Brit parroting 'received international community wisdom'. open your eyes...

To reply on your terms, isn't the success of the EU's Balkans policy a test of the CFSP, indeed the ESDP?

Isn't it also becoming a test of the EU's ability to come up with a unified stance on Russia?

On 10 March 2008 15:15, Mike wrote:

> What did we do? Vote for George again. Bush may have been an idiot, but a vote for Kerry was seen as a vote for France.

Hmmm... And what did voting like that make you? Smart?

Peter,

I am all for the free trade, but our enemies are very mean, and use everything at their disposal, including trade, to reach their goals. So we have to be very careful trading with them, prevent them to get hold of our strategic assets, to infiltrate our state structures to get sensitive information's e.c.t.

"… relationship with Russia,…pity we didn't, would have worked to both our advantages today if we weren't so caught up in our nationalist chauvinism towards each other then…"

Yes, it is a real tragedy that two great Slavic nations fought against each other. I would be very happy to see an improvement in you relations and hoped that in these times it would happen, but "modernization of Polish anti air craft defense" is not very helpful I'm afraid …

What about Spain, Romania, Greece and Slovakia?
(Peter Sudyka, 12 March 2008 15:39)

Dear Peter,

Apart from Spain and Greece that carry a moderate weight the remaining Romania and Slovakia are more or less on the same boat as Cyprus is.

Still neither Spain nor Greece have sufficient weight/strengh/credibility to influence or differ the EU four(UK, France, Germany and Italy) locomotive. We know that this may not be fair but the greatest contributors of the EU have the greatest weight. So big EU 4 have the last say in any economic or political issue...even though that at times they have to waste a bit more energy that usual.

So as far as Kosovo is concerned nothing can stop it to join the EU once the big EU 4 decides in the favour. We know initially they will opose but afterwards they have no choice but to back the big powers....It is not only about Kosovo but on any issue that is considered relevant for the EU.

I hope the above clarifies that Kosova has no barriers whats-so-ever in joing the EU when it is ready...

Cheers

We are quite happy with Solana commenting on who should be elected to govern a foreign country, but for our part, we hope the radicals win because that means Kosova will become an EU member before Serbia ever does.

Every day with more Kosova recognitions as an independent state we become more stronger and respectable
in the eyes of the world.
Solana as the chief EU foreign policy adviser has his views which are not much use to the Kosovars.It doesn't make any difference which goverment is elected in Serbia.For the Kosovars what matters is economic development and membership of EU and NATO in the next 4 or 5 years.

Ronald
The reason that EULEX has taken over in Kosova is to preapare the country for eventual membership.EULEX will be bring Kosova institutions to EU standards within the next 4 to 5 years.
Kosova is only 2 million and not 80 million like Turkey.
The EU doesn't want Turkey because with qualified majority decisions Turkey will have the upper hand.The EU will be happy to have Kosova as a member.

Mike

The situations are a bit different.

Most Americans think their country is the greatest in the world (rightly or wrongly) and the conservatives especially, thought they could go it alone. The Americans were angry at Europe's opposition to Iraq's war, so obviously Kerry miscalculated, to put it mildly. Now most Americans (I hope), have come to realize that they need to cooperate with Europe to get things done.

In the Balkans however, the situation is completely the opposite. Someone would have to be delusional to think that their country is the greatest in the world and better than the EU. Almost, all Balkans countries, Serbia included want to improve their standing in the internation pecking order by being in the EU some day. Had it not been for Kosovo that would have applied to the Serb radicals too.

Just a reality check here...The EU does NOT need Serbia and/or the rest of the Balkans, but the Balkans do need the EU.

Crveni Vuk,

If Serbia chooses the Radical/Kostunica way and becomes a Russian satellite than Ardian will be definitely right. There will be no entry for Serbia but entry for Kosovo.
The entry is not for tomorrow. First the EU will prepare Kosovo economically with a lot of aid. Once Kosovo is ready the big countries will make sure that your friendly Cyprus doesn't block it. By the way I was trilled to learn from you that Cyprus is an economically advanced country.
Wow. Good for them.

Tom and Niall...

In most instances, yes I would agree that foreign entities should not interfere in a country's elections, but as usual there are exceptions. After all, this rule is more of a "gentleman's agreement."

Well, there's nothing gentlemanly about Kostunica and company. To draw a parallel... if someone in a foreign country wanted to get elected and uses Ireland as a punching bag to do so, don't you think Ireland is entitled to express its disapproval of that candidate?

As far as slaps in the face go... I've said it before and reiterate again here. Go ask Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and the recent newcomers on whether they benefited from the EU or not.

Mike,

“Take the US, my little Slice 'o' Heaven. Back in the 2004 elections, John Kerry said he received the backing of most European leaders. What did we do? Vote for George again. Bush may have been an idiot, but a vote for Kerry was seen as a vote for France.”

I though you couldn’t understand the fact that Kosovar Albanians don’t like Serbs, yet you talk about your views towards France as if France was your biggest enemy. What happened in Kosovo is still fresh, and I believe the soil in Kosovo is still wet from the blood that was shed 9 years ago. But let me STOP for a moment, because what you just said is funny, yet disgusting at the same time.
You didn’t want to vote for Kerry because of something that happened more than 200 years ago, but you had no problem voting for an idiot? I guess that explains a lot. I believe you gave me a good explanation why Europeans are very reserved towards U.S.

@(ahmed, 10 March 2008 15:53)

For the Kosovars what matters is economic development and membership of EU and NATO in the next 4 or 5 years.

--------------------------



Make that 40 or 50 years.

Turkey is busy getting EU memberschipt since the 80's and still isn't in.
Croatia started the process almost 17 years ago, it even hasn't got kandidat-memberschip status.

5 years hahahaha, not even in youre wildest dreams that's gonna happen.

If it ever is going to happen, unlike you like to think that membership to EU & NATO works on 2/3 majority, it really works on consencus, that means EVERY current member has to agree, and with non-recognizing members in the EU & NATO becomming member off those 2 by Kosovo is IMPOSSIBLE.

All parties are pro-EU. The difference is in the method of membership.

The Tadic way is to have Serbia sleepwalk into it and hope Solana/EU/US will keep Kosovo within Serbia. Tadic just needs to keep his fingers crossed and wish for the best.

Or the Kostunica way is to fight to keep Kosovo Serbian and to make the EU realise further negotiations are needed if they really want Serbia.

Of course Solana prefers the Tadic way but I doubt the EU will turn its back on Serbia regardless of who wins. The Kostunica way will just make life that much more difficult for the EU and force a compromise.

No compromise is needed for Tadic. The EU plan continues as before.

To Nemanja,
To say that the flux of almost a million refugees can be faked in the 21-st century just shows your ignorance. If you wanted to find out the truth you would have travelled to Macedonia for example and find out the reason why all those people had to run away.
It's just insult to me and all those people that had to run away from our homes and leave everything behind becuase of how serbians treated us, and I have to listen to you to tell me "the truth" that I had to leave because of NATO?! Shame on you! I guess to you we kosovo albanians are some animals that we would "protect" NATO, CIA, and KLA under any circumstances just to for some reason "punish" Serbia.
By the way, leave US if there are that bad and "hate" serbs so much. Maybe Rusia or China would be more suitable for your kind since according to you they are way more democratic then US.
Also what happened in March 2004 is unfortunate in Kosovo just plainly wrong. All the polititians in Kosovo condemed those actions and a few of them even went into the crowds to try and calm people down. Unlike you at least I know right from wrong and don't try to cover up the truth about a crime.

On 10 March 2008 17:49, Uran wrote:

> You didn’t want to vote for Kerry because of something that happened more than 200 years ago, but you had no problem voting for an idiot?

No. France opposed the US in the UN Security Council over the invasion in Iraq.

Here we go again with our friendly Europeans who wish us only well and no any ill to us. They already started, just one day after the government collapsed. I expect more loud invitations from Europeans and more sweet carrots during the lections. It is only the question will Serbs fall once more for these carrots with the long sticks. I hope not this time.

Solana hopes the DS-G17 bloc wins the elections. I hope democratic elections can be held without foreign intervention. It is quiet shocking that Solana is trying to circumvent fundamental democratic principles in this important election.

Why is the EU insiting so much to integrate Serbia when they clearly want to join Russia? This is so stupid!

Could someone please explain to me why it is that the EU insists that Serbia wants to become an EU state and that they must push for membership ASAP? Would it really bother them if Serbia decided against it and perhaps took up a similar position as Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are to the EU? I really doubt the sincerity of the EU with regards to Serbia, it is just another collector's item they want to add. Why are they pushing Serbia so hard here?

On the other hand, I can't understand Serbia's blind worship of Russia. Don't get me wrong, I love the Russian people, but the government and heir policies to anyone smaller than them is not something I wish for Serbia. As a Pole being born, raised and still living in a once dominated ex-Russian colony practically, it is not a great prospect either in any way.

Best thing for Serbia: unaligned movement. Yugoslavia was a great example of this mentality and world view. I think Serbia should push for this sort of existence, it worked for them before, no doubt it would work for them again. Why should there only be pro-West and anti-West states? Serbia could be a guiding light for countries like the Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Moldova perhaps.

Will someone please tell Solana and Rupel to observe international norms of behaviour and keep their noses out of the Serbian elections. Diplomats or politicians with any integrity do not interfere in this manner.

Serbia, with its territory intact, wishes to join the EU. That has always been clear.

Given that the two issues have been previously stated not to be linked, the EU should not abuse or confuse a pro-vote for EU candidates with a referendum to give up Kosovo.

The rapidity and the glee with which the EU encouraged the UDI straight after Tadic was elected was unseemly.

The EU needlessly risked Serbia's democratic future by encouraging the UDI. The EU has been irresponsible.

I hope the Serbian electorate tell the hypocrites in the EU in no uncertain terms where to go and stuff it. That they had enough of their lies bully tactics hypocrisies. Undermining their country at every step and they are not interested of becoming a slave to EU Brussels.

I don't see why EU officials shouldn't be able to state their preferences with regards to the Serbian elections. It's not undemocratic and it's not contrary to any of the practices we see elsewhere in the EU.

It is however quite tactless and will probably polarise Serbian politics even further. Doesn't Solana understand that he is not well-liked in Serbia given his role in the 1999 bombings? Does he think most Serbs will take his advice as that of a benevolent source?

'''Today, the EU high foreign policy representative said in Brussels that "it is important that the parliamentary elections will take place" and that "this will be a chance for the people of Serbia to choose a way forward".

The Serbian have chosen already, many times, to look toward the EU and have always been let down by the EU taking and demanding more. At some point, when th ecurrent actions are not working (Looking toward the EU) you try something else.

Martin,

It IS contrary to practices elsewhere in the EU and elsewhere generally. It is an unstated rule of diplomacy that the conduct of an election is purely the business of the people of the relevant country. The Irish do not interfere in British elections and vice versa. The French do not interefere in....etc etc.

The interference of Solana and Rupel is just one more example of the arrogance of these people as if they know what is best. They should shut up.

We are quite happy with Solana commenting on who should be elected to govern a foreign country, but for our part, we hope the radicals win because that means Kosova will become an EU member before Serbia ever does.
(Ardian, 10 March 2008 12:49)

Just to let you know my friend, there are six countries in the EU that oppose your independence and that will not let you get in. And even though Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovenia yield under the pressure, there is no way that Cyprus and Spain are going to give in, seeing as they are some of the most economically advanced in the EU. Oh, and another thing, did you know that yesterday, Kostunica mentioned 3 or 4 countries that have UDI and that have been recognized by about 70 countries each. But you don't see them on the map, do you?

Bang on Tom,

Not even 24 hours after elections were called; the interference and scaremongering from the West commences. If the Radicals win thats it, all bets are off and its open season on the Serbs.

What have the EU to offer Serbia? Absolutley nothing but a slap in the face.

Spot on, Tom. Solana, Rupel, and the rest of the EUrocrats with funky glasses need to realize their vocal support may backfire. They can silently cheer for Tadic or Dinkic, but they need to keep a very low profile.

All Kostunica has to do is say Tadic is an EU puppet, and capitalize on the national populist vote. Not a good thing.

Take the US, my little Slice 'o' Heaven. Back in the 2004 elections, John Kerry said he received the backing of most European leaders. What did we do? Vote for George again. Bush may have been an idiot, but a vote for Kerry was seen as a vote for France.

Solana - are you REALLY the rep. for the EU's 'high' foreign policy???
jeeezzzz.

Have a feeling this article is going to get a lot of posts.. :)

Most of the EU countries have shown that they are not Serbia's friends, and have absolutely nothing to offer Serbia. This is the same Solana that was cheering the illegal and criminal round the clock bombing of Serbian infrastructure for 78 days, and now is all of a sudden pretending to be our 'friend'?
Serbs are not stupid, we know who is who. The only reason Tadic narrowly won the last election is because he vowed never to give up Kosovo. That is the ONLY reason.
He has now shown his true colours, he is a hypocrite. I expect the Serbs to vote in someone who will defend their territorial integrity, first and foremost. That is the duty of any government.
The scaremongering won't work, and who needs the EU anyway when you have trading partners like Russia, China, India, Brazil, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Cyprus...just to name a few, who RESPECT Serbia's legal borders.
We don't need them, and in this election we should show the EU, NATO and all those others what we think of them and their ofers of 'friendship'. We should show them our back side. Serbia is already in Europe, and they can do nothing about that.

i say let the man talk! :)
solana, keep talking, media, keep reporting :))

Solana is actively helping the nationalists win because he doesn't want Serbia in the EU and he has to have a "reason" to reject Serbia. Why would he be saying these things if this were not true? He could keep his mouth shut. This leads to what I have been posting to B92 for almost a year now:
Serbia, the EU doesn't want you and that's okay. There are plenty of non-EU countries to trade with and Serbia can still sign trade agreements with individual countries in the EU. These stories about isolation are myths: Serbia will never be isolated.
Serbia has been subjected to the worst propaganda attack in history; for the past 17 years.

Bad luck, Solana! Serbia is already part of Europe, belongs to it - long time before even you were born. ;-)

Solana yust speaks for himself..the mayority of spaniards thinks EU is already too big !

As far as Rupel is concerned, "Serbia has no other possibility but the EU", agencies also reported.

It has - Territorial integrity,pride, non-humiliation and chance to develop independently W/O interference by EU Commissars, regards investments by non-EU members etc.
Serbia will be humiliated time and again and again...
Does membership in EU provide a MAGIC WAND ??

Uran, what in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster are you talking about?

My anecdote had nothing to do with what happened 200 years ago, but with what happened immediately after 9/11 with the French being the symbol of anti-Americanism. You might have heard of our little attempt at renaming French Fries, French Toast, and anything else with the name "France" in it - Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast? Hell, we even tried to rename Saurkraut "Liberty Cabbage" because the Germans were annoying us too. So Kerry comes out and says something akin to him being "Europe's preferred candidate", and Americans, out of spite, reelect Bush (though by a slim margin). My point here is that national elections, wherever the are, are just that - "national". Candidates who seek, or are backed, by international forces, regardless of the reason, can be seen as having more loyalty to outside interests than the interests of their state.

I think you read WAY too much into my comment. It was meant to be funny. Apparently, my attempts at being humourous went down in a fiery Blitzkrieg of Death.

Crveni Vuk,

If Serbia chooses the Radical/Kostunica way and becomes a Russian satellite than Ardian will be definitely right. There will be no entry for Serbia but entry for Kosovo.
The entry is not for tomorrow. First the EU will prepare Kosovo economically with a lot of aid. Once Kosovo is ready the big countries will make sure that your friendly Cyprus doesn't block it. By the way I was trilled to learn from you that Cyprus is an economically advanced country.
Wow. Good for them.
(Joe, 10 March 2008 15:19)

You have just shown how naive you are. The UN has been pumping billions of dollars into Kosovo over the last 9 years, and there has been no result. As for "the big countries blocking Cyprus", how can they do that? Cyprus is a member of the EU, which means it has the right to a veto. And since they are ECONOMICALLY ADVANCED, you can not bribe them with donations and aid. By the way, have you ever BEEN to Kosovo, or do you just read those Western newspapers thay say everything is great in Iraq, Iran etc.

Uran,

Stop playing the victim already. . .you're not fooling anyone anymore.

Let me summarize what's "fresh" in peoples minds:

1)2,108 people were confirmed killed on all sides including Serbs and Albanians, soldiers and civilians

2) the mass exodus of Albanians was spurred by NATO bombs and fomented by the CIA/KLA to garner sympathy for the NATO war effort (by the way, they're all back. . .and then some!)

3) after 1999, thousands of Serbs have been murdered, hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee the Albanina terror campaign

4) over 150 Serbian churches have been destroyed; a pathetic attempted to eradicate the cultural existence of the province's indigenous Serbian population

All this was done under NATO's watchful eye.

So if anyone lost the 'moral authority' to govern the province of Kosovo. . .it's NATO and their Albanina proxies!

"Just a reality check here...The EU does NOT need Serbia and/or the rest of the Balkans, but the Balkans do need the EU."
(Ment, 10 March 2008 16:17)

Can be just the contrary. And those Euro-busybodies can seldom keep their fingers from their 'new projects'.

"Solana yust speaks for himself..the mayority of spaniards thinks EU is already too big !
(Luigi, 10 March 2008 18:28)

Now that 'the circle is almost completed' anyway, the EU probably wishes to add the few remaining Western Balkan countries to it, too. Another thing being Russia!

@(ahmed, 10 March 2008 17:49)

Again, again agin.

1.
Even BEFORE Kosovo can get just 1 agreement signed with the EU ALL current EU members first have to recognize Kosovo (No THIS IS NOT AN MAJORITY THING BUT AN CONSENSUS (ALL MEMBERS HAVE TO AGREE)).

2. Maybe youe institutions may be up to speed, but also youre economy has to be up to speed, and that alone will take more than 20 years, even with the help of the US & EU.

You have an balance off approx 0,5 billion euro for 2 miljon people, the dutch government has 166 billion euro for 16 miljon people, see the enourmous gap???

whe have 8 times more people, but we have an economy that's 300+ times bigger, even to be considerd you'l need an economy that's at least halve as big as ours.

Face it, kosovo isn't going to be in the EU or the NATO for a long, long time.
Come back over 50 years.

"Could someone please explain to me why it is that the EU insists that Serbia wants to become an EU state and that they must push for membership ASAP? Would it really bother them if Serbia decided against it and perhaps took up a similar position as Switzerland, Iceland and Norway are to the EU? I really doubt the sincerity of the EU with regards to Serbia, it is just another collector's item they want to add. Why are they pushing Serbia so hard here?"
---
(Peter Sudyka, 10 March 2008 20:46)

There is nothing honest in the EU's approach to Serbia. A cat and mouse game, it can be called. Please open up your eyes - all the EU wants is to humiliate Serbia! It wants to restore the 'good old world order' of colonial superiority!
So beware!
By the way, some great views, Peter Sudyka! :-)

So if anyone lost the 'moral authority' to govern the province of Kosovo. . .it's NATO and their Albanina proxies!
(Nemanja, Connecticut, 10 March 2008 20:13)

Not only that, US and it's so called coalition drop illegal depleted Uranium bombs in all of Serbia including Kosovo.

The Albanian extremists still thank the US for an environmental wasteland left in Kosovo.

Let me ask the young people of Kosovo how they will live and work when they will be cut down with various diseases and cancers. Its already happening In Pancevo and the Danube across all over Europe.

The hypocricy is that Al Gore is awarded the Nobel Peace prize for polluting the Balkans.

Ment,

“… Go ask Greece, Portugal, Spain, Ireland,…”

If you didn’t notice EU, changed a lot in the mean time. Back then, rules were the same for all countries. Each new member was immediately entitled to full rights. Not any more. These days it is on a case to case basis. Each new member has to accept a lot of restrictions, which makes him basically second class member. There are no rules or guaranties that he will ever achieve full rights.
Development fonds are much smaller. I will not even begin about “democracy” of decision making process and influence of small countries in EU. Add to that fact that number of big countries is hostile to us. They are doing everything they possibly can to weaken us. I don’t think they will stop that policy any time soon and make us reach and happy all of sudden.

“… EU does NOT need Serbia and/or the rest of the Balkans, but the Balkans do need the EU. Serbia has no other possibility but the EU…."

I do not agree. World changed a lot in the couple of decades of globalization. US and West Europe lost a monopoly on the technological innovation and production. There is absolutely nothing what Europe produces that we can’t by cheaper in Asia. After all, Europe is buying there as well. Raw materials are even easier to come buy. I agree with a Peter here:

“… unaligned movement. …. Serbia could be a guiding light for countries like the Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus and Moldova …”

Unaligned movement has huge potential. Our prominent position in that club was one of the main reasons for destruction of Yugoslavia.YU was relatively big country, (in European context), reasonably prosperous, with independent foreign policy and alternative social system and model of economy possibly attractive to the countries in transition. Empire would have none of it. It has to go. In its place they installed number of small, impoverished, banana republics completely dependent and easy to manipulate.
As for Russia, Peter, as you probably know, our historical experience is quite different then yours. Poland was a major power in its hay days and you and Russians were entangled in centuries long struggle for supremacy. Over the time, luck changed many times, and with it your roles of victims or villains. In our case, during long centuries of Turkish terror, our major hope for freedom was Russian help. Especially in the later period of decline of Ottoman Empire, when Western powers actually supported Turkey. Russia was a savior of all Orthodox nations in the Balkans, not only Slavs. I think that all Orthodox still regret western intervention on Turkish side which prevented Russian army to bring Constantinopolis back to Orthodox world. Back to our time, I think that it would be very wise for Serbia to cooperate very closely with a Russia. It will benefit both sides. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t cooperate with everybody else of the good will as well, especially our friends from the Third world. SFR Yugoslavia basically operated in that way. We had good relations with East and West and everyone else interested. Serbia could do the same with exception of number of reach Western nation hostile to us.

On 10 March 2008 15:15, Mike wrote:

> What did we do? Vote for George again. Bush may have been an idiot, but a vote for Kerry was seen as a vote for France.

Hmmm... And what did voting like that make you? Smart?

Joe

It's not just Cyprus, also Spain, Greece, Romania and Slovakia that oppose. That's a lot of countries to convince if Kosovo wants to join the European Union.

ahmed

Kosovo has an economy no stronger than most African states. It has no army either. It will take much, much longer than 4-5 years, trust me, make it 14-15 years rather. Kosovo should not focus on trying to reach membership of organizations that they are simply not capable of joining (not even mentioning vetos by many states involved in the latter two), rather they should drag their economy out of the gutter first.

"SFR Yugoslavia basically operated in that way. We had good relations with East and West and everyone else interested. Serbia could do the same with exception of number of reach Western nation hostile to us.
(Stevan, 11 March 2008 01:10)
Your vote has been recorded ­ thank you for participating."

Exactly what I mean. Only thing I disagree with is closing relations with hostile states, I believe that free trade should not be hampered. This is precisely why SFR Yugoslavia was the richest of the socialist states, more so even than Czechoslovakia, because it wasn't limited by the COMECON, but had free trade with everybody.

Indeed also Serbia had a different relationship with Russia, pity we didn't, would have worked to both our advantages today if we weren't so caught up in our nationalist chauvinism towards each other then.

Not Important [sic],

Really?

I wonder. . .did you receive one of these leaflets that were disseminated to Kosovo Albanians in April 1999, one week after the bombing campaign began?:

(translated to english)

FELLOW CITIZENS

We invite you to temporarily evacuate the endangered territories of the Republic of Kosova, due to the ongoing major offensive by the Serbian occupation forces. We cannot protect you, and neither can the Kosova Liberation Army.

We need to save our people and our lives. Therefore, proceed immediately towards Albania and Macedonia.

We have asked NATO to help us in our struggle against the Serb occupation forces, because these forces have launched a great offensive in the entire territory of the republic of Kosova. We are getting this help, but the KLA is not able to fully resist the offensive and defend the Albanian people.

Therefore we call on all Albanians who face danger from the Serb occupation troops to evacuate to Albania and Macedonia.

Ibrahim Rugova
President, Republic of Kosova

Ment,

many of your arguments have that all to familiar (to me at least) air of a Brit parroting 'received international community wisdom'. open your eyes...

To reply on your terms, isn't the success of the EU's Balkans policy a test of the CFSP, indeed the ESDP?

Isn't it also becoming a test of the EU's ability to come up with a unified stance on Russia?

Cyprus is a member of the EU, which means it has the right to a veto.!
(Crveni Vuk, 10 March 2008 19:24)

Dear Crveni Vuk,

I think you show me that you are very naive. Cyprus carries a marginalised weight at the EU inspite of the fact that it is a EU member. When push comes to shove Cyprus gives in for whatever big power ask. Very simple. EULEX mission was vetoed by Cyprus despite intial threat at the beginning. So even if Kosovo is ready to join the EU Cyprus or any other country (apart from UK, FRance, Germany and Italy)will have to open the way...and silebtly agree...

I hope this will serve you as a good as a lesson how EU institutions/bureaucracy... works

Prishtinas, The Republic of Kosova

What about Spain, Romania, Greece and Slovakia?

Peter,

I am all for the free trade, but our enemies are very mean, and use everything at their disposal, including trade, to reach their goals. So we have to be very careful trading with them, prevent them to get hold of our strategic assets, to infiltrate our state structures to get sensitive information's e.c.t.

"… relationship with Russia,…pity we didn't, would have worked to both our advantages today if we weren't so caught up in our nationalist chauvinism towards each other then…"

Yes, it is a real tragedy that two great Slavic nations fought against each other. I would be very happy to see an improvement in you relations and hoped that in these times it would happen, but "modernization of Polish anti air craft defense" is not very helpful I'm afraid …

Stevan

If Serbia was in the EU, they would have to abide by the EU regulations, but countries like Norway and Switzerland have their own separate regulations regarding trade, just free trade with the EU who in no way dominate their everyday functioning and do not influence them that much.

I also don't like this missile shield idea, Tusk said he would consult with Russia, but he hasn't, all he wants is to upgrade the army by giving land for the shield. I can understand loyalty to whoever you are allied with, but I cannot understand why it has to be to antagonize a country who is not happy about it.

Sometimes I wish Poland would act more as a mediator between the US as an ally and Russia as an ex-ally, rather than the dog on a leash we are being now. Serbia has the opportunity to be that mediator, though after Kosovo I can't blame them for bonding with Russia.

What about Spain, Romania, Greece and Slovakia?
(Peter Sudyka, 12 March 2008 15:39)

Dear Peter,

Apart from Spain and Greece that carry a moderate weight the remaining Romania and Slovakia are more or less on the same boat as Cyprus is.

Still neither Spain nor Greece have sufficient weight/strengh/credibility to influence or differ the EU four(UK, France, Germany and Italy) locomotive. We know that this may not be fair but the greatest contributors of the EU have the greatest weight. So big EU 4 have the last say in any economic or political issue...even though that at times they have to waste a bit more energy that usual.

So as far as Kosovo is concerned nothing can stop it to join the EU once the big EU 4 decides in the favour. We know initially they will opose but afterwards they have no choice but to back the big powers....It is not only about Kosovo but on any issue that is considered relevant for the EU.

I hope the above clarifies that Kosova has no barriers whats-so-ever in joing the EU when it is ready...

Cheers