EU's Fuele urges Western Balkans to continue reforms
19/03/2010
PODGORICA, Montenegro -- EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele's tour of the Western Balkans included stops Thursday (March 18th) in Podgorica and Sarajevo, where he discussed the need for reforms to advance the EU integration process. After meeting with Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, Fuele urged authorities to keep fighting corruption and organised crime. Djukanovic said Montenegro hopes for candidate status by the end of the year.
In Sarajevo, Fuele said he expects the European Commission (EC) to decide by mid-April whether to recommend lifting EU visa requirements for Bosnian citizens. Fuele praised the country for its progress in meeting criteria in the EU visa liberalisation road map.
Fuele was expected on Friday in Kosovo and Albania. He was quoted by the Tirana-based daily Shqip as saying that the EC has started preparing an opinion on Albania's application for EU candidate country status. He told the Pristina-based daily Koha Ditore that there is EU consensus in regard to Kosovo's future in the bloc, adding that the Union is monitoring institutions to see if they are fighting corruption, organised crime and other issues mentioned in the EC's 2009 progress report. (Shqip, Top Channel, Top News, Koha Ditore, Telegrafi, RTK - 19/03/10; B92, Tanjug, RTCG, Portal Analitika, Cafemontenegro, RTRS, Dnevni Avaz, Srna, Fena - 18/03/10)