Brussels is constantly promising money and EU accession to the Western Balkans. But which EU member state really wants new EU members, wonders H-J Schlamp in an opinion piece for the SPIEGEL (which I copy pasted below). The EU seems to be increasingly critical of Croatia's progress in accession negotiations, and does not seem to be willing to set a date for the start of negotiations with Macedonia (which has been waiting for more than two years (!!) after having been granted candidate status in December 2005). Albania, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina could maybe start accession negotiations in 2015... and Serbia - well, it could be well on its way into the EU, if it had reacted differently to Kosovo's independence declaration. Read more below (only in German, unfortunately)...

Serbia is stepping up pressure on Kosovo and countries who recognised the independence of Kosovo, recalling the Serbian ambassadors from Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Ankara, and Washington. Two border crossing points were set on fire at the border line between Serbia and Kosovo (cf. CNN Video Report) and a big demonstration is planned today in Belgrade. The EU nevertheless, wants to keep the door open for Serbia.

"What sort of solution is it to isolate oneself, to become a kind of Belorussia in the Balkans? What sort of perspective is this, given the spirit of integration that governs our epoch? And what does it say about our compatibility with our neighbours and with a world that is changing so fast?", wonders the historian Latinka Perovic.