The Czech Republic's political crisis and the economic slowdown arethreatening European Union plans to offer membership to new countries in the Balkans and beyond, ministers said today.
Aspiring EU member Serbia acknowledged its path to the EU faced delay. Last week's no-confidence vote in the Czech government cast doubt on whether Prague will ratify an EU treaty needed to reform EU decision-making and allow it to expand.
"This path is going to be longer, in all likelihood it's going to take us more time," Serb Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said before talks with EU counterparts in the Czech Republic.
"But what I really think is important is that we maintain ... the sense of not being left out," he said.
Belgrade still intended to apply for membership, he said.
An upbeat joint statement issued after the EU talks with membership hopefuls confirmed their long-term prospect of accession, and stressed that the economic crisis made close cooperation in the region even more necessary.
But Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and other ministers said the slowdown was making further enlargement more difficult.
"For candidate countries and other countries of the Western Western Balkans, this is at the moment a very huge difficulty," Paet said.
Asked if failure by Prague to ratify the Lisbon Treaty would jeopardise enlargement plans, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said, "Of course it can. It is in our highest national interest to ratify it as soon as possible."
The Lisbon Treaty needs to be ratified by all 27 EU states before it comes into force as planned on January 1. Before the Czech crisis, the biggest potential obstacle was seen as the second referendum on the matter due to be held here later this year.
Diplomats say Croatia may not need the Lisbon treaty to become the 28th member of the bloc but some kind of institutional reform of EU structures is needed to make room for Serbia and other Western Balkans states, and Turkey.
"There will be no enlargement if there is no Lisbon Treaty," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, reaffirming a French position also backed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"Everybody knows it, so why not say it?"
Croatia's progress has been stalled by a border dispute with EU member Slovenia, which is seeking direct access to the sea.
The European Commission has offered to act as a mediator and last week put forward a compromise proposal which it has not detailed publicly.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zbogar said he hoped for progress based on the proposal.
Croatia's Gordan Jandrokovic said, "We are still negotiating, we will see how it develops."
They said the Czech presidency had delayed Croatia's next accession talks until April 24 and still hoped the negotiations could be completed by the end of the year.
"But time is running out," Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra said. "We can't wait forever."
The collapse of Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government makes it uncertain whether the upper house of Czech parliament will give the treaty the green light. Analysts say the country's constitution gives its eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus a large say in determining how events now unfold.
Reuters