In an interview on Croatia's integration into the EU, Franz-Lothar Altmann (SWP) sees Croatia as a "victim" of the scepticism within the EU, which was created by the discussion on corruption and crime in Bulgaria and Romania and by the debate on the EU-membership of Turkey. If Croatia had been ready for EU-integration earlier (e.g. by handing over Gotovina), it might have had better chances than now... Indeed, EU-Commission President Barroso suggested recently that the EU should not accept new members after Bulgaria and Romania until an agreement on a Constitutional Treaty was reached.

"The nationalists win in Bosnia-Herzegovina" is the conclusion of journalists commenting on the elections of 1 October 2006 (cf. Handelsblatt, Deutsche Welle, Tagesschau). The results are analysed in the "Redaktion"-Blog and can be consulted in detail on the official election webpage izbori.ba.

The Nansen Dialogue Network Virtual School on "Dialogue, Democracy, and Peaceful Conflict Resolution" (Nov. 2006 - Jan. 2007) has launched a call for applications (deadline: 18 October) for politicians, NGO activists, journalists, representatives of local and regional governments and institutions from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo. For questions, send an email to virtualschool@cg.yu