"EU membership talks, good therapy"

A former head of the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe says only urgent EU membership talks with all the regional countries will preserve stability. In an interview for Spiegel Online, Erhard Busek said that the EU is to blame for the standstill in negotiations with the Western Balkans states. "EU membership talks, good therapy" “EU membership talks should begin with all the [southeastern Europe] countries as soon as possible. Then, they will be occupied with solving legal issues, and will desist from further stupidity. It’s good therapy and creates healthy competition,” the Austrian politician said. Busek added that some countries will meet EU conditions "in three, while others might take up to 20 years", but that it is "sad that the EU still acts bilaterally, lacking a common, comprehensive strategy”. As for the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and the impact of this, he said it was “a joke” to claim that the EU enlargement was jeopardized with the Irish vote, because the countries yet to be integrated into the EU are "put together smaller than Romania”. “The Romanian and Bulgarian accession was too early. And now, other Balkan countries have to pay the price for the mistake that the EU made in those two cases, because the obstacles have grown. For example, Croatia is more prepared to enter the EU than Romania or Bulgaria." Busek said that the fact the Stability Pact was transformed into the South East European Cooperation Process was "a historic change". “Since the Vienna Congress we have been telling people in the Balkans what to do. Now they must to do it themselves. If they stay in a sort of a kindergarten, then, they will never grow up,” he concluded.

"EU membership talks, good therapy"

“EU membership talks should begin with all the [southeastern Europe] countries as soon as possible. Then, they will be occupied with solving legal issues, and will desist from further stupidity. It’s good therapy and creates healthy competition,” the Austrian politician said.

Busek added that some countries will meet EU conditions "in three, while others might take up to 20 years", but that it is "sad that the EU still acts bilaterally, lacking a common, comprehensive strategy”.

As for the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty and the impact of this, he said it was “a joke” to claim that the EU enlargement was jeopardized with the Irish vote, because the countries yet to be integrated into the EU are "put together smaller than Romania”.

“The Romanian and Bulgarian accession was too early. And now, other Balkan countries have to pay the price for the mistake that the EU made in those two cases, because the obstacles have grown. For example, Croatia is more prepared to enter the EU than Romania or Bulgaria."

Busek said that the fact the Stability Pact was transformed into the South East European Cooperation Process was "a historic change".

“Since the Vienna Congress we have been telling people in the Balkans what to do. Now they must to do it themselves. If they stay in a sort of a kindergarten, then, they will never grow up,” he concluded.