EUobserver / 'Map of southeast Europe is finished,' Germany tells Serbia

EUobserver / 'Map of southeast Europe is finished,' Germany tells Serbia

'Map of southeast Europe is finished,' Germany tells Serbia

ANDREW RETTMAN 27.08.2010 @ 09:26

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Germany has made the strongest public link so far between Serbia's acceptance of Kosovo independence and its EU membership bid, amid speculation that a final deal will involve a new status for the Serb-dominated northern part of Kosovo.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle on a visit to Serbia on Thursday (26 August) told students at a speech in Belgrade University that the country has to "face reality" on Kosovo secession."A day will come for representatives of Belgrade and Pristina to sit at the same table and speak about the EU. It may now seem like a utopia for you, but it can be achieved. Reconciliation can succeed if you face reality. Independent Kosovo is a reality and the opinion of the International Court of Justice has uniquely confirmed it," he said.

EUobserver / Ukraine president pledges alliegance to both EU and Russia

Ukraine president pledges alliegance to both EU and Russia

VALENTINA POP

24.08.2010 @ 17:44 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday (24 August) gave assurances of his commitment to EU integration, while claiming that his rapprochement with Moscow is not hindering, but contributing to the process.

"European integration remains a priority for our foreign policy," Mr Yanukovych said in an address marking the 19th anniversary of the country's independence from the Soviet Union. In the same breath, he added that: "normalising our relations with Russia does not only not hinder our EU integration but on the contrary contributes to it."

Mr Yanukovych was speaking to some 2,000 people gathered in the central square of Kiev, known as the Maidan, where his pro-Western opponents in 2004 staged the "Orange Revolution" which ousted him from power amid allegations of electoral fraud.

Ukraine is failing the democracy test | Viktor Tkachuk | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Ukraine is failing the democracy test | Viktor Tkachuk | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Ukraine is failing the democracy test

A new election law that protects the ruling elite is undemocratic and raises fresh doubts about Ukraine's suitability to join the EU

• Viktor Tkachuk Sunday 22 August 2010 11.00 BST

Ukraine is losing the right to call itself a democratic nation and is drawing into question any hope it has for EU membership any time soon. For even before campaigning starts ahead of local elections on 31 October there is speculation that the result is being manipulated. This is because a recent law prevents parties formed less than a year ago, and individuals standing independently, from participating.
On 27 July, President Viktor Yanukovych enacted a law that prohibits candidates from standing who are not from a party registered, even locally, at least one year before the election. There is little logic to the new law apart from that it shuts the door on any newly formed parties and bars those of successful politicians Sergei Tigipko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who came third and fourth respectively in the presidential election held last January.