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On 6 November the European Commission approved the annual document regarding the European Union Enlargement Strategy and announced regular reports on the progress toward European Union membership made by Turkey and the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo provinces, administered by the United Nations).

The Enlargement Strategy document embeds the provision to continue to pursue a consistent EU Enlargement policy. The EC confirmed that the renewed consensus on the Enlargement, which the countries had agreed upon in December 2006, today was especially relevant and important.

Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas evaluated the Enlargement Strategy document favourably.

“We share the opinion of the Commission that we should uphold our commitments given to the countries seeking the EU membership. The perspective of becoming an EU member is a strong stimulus for those countries to implement the necessary structural political and economic reforms. Consistent EU enlargement policy is an important tool of securing peace, democracy and stability in the continent”, said the Head of Lithuanian diplomacy.

The European Commission indicated that an EU candidate Croatia has advanced well in 2007, and entered a decisive phase of the EU Accession Negotiations. It’s true that Croatia has to continue to make further progress in performing judicial and administrative reform, minority rights, and refugee return, as well as in restructuring of steel and shipbuilding industries.

The report on Turkey indicates that, overall, major progress has been achieved, since becoming a candidate country in 1999. The EU indicated that Turkey had managed to overcome a constitutional crisis and held successful democratic parliamentary and presidential elections, and needed to renew the speed of its reforms. Turkey was recommended to make significant further efforts on freedom of expression and religion. Further improvements are also needed in particular on judicial reform, in the fight against corruption, strengthened rights for women, children and trade unions, cultural rights, as well as on civilian oversight of the security forces and on the normalisation of bilateral relations with the Republic of Cyprus, which is an EU Member State.

The EU indicated the importance for the Western Balkan countries to make progress developing the pillars of a modern democracy and forming political culture that is based on dialogue and tolerance. At this moment more effective public administration is required from Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro. Bosnia and Herzegovina should assume full ownership of its governance and implement other reforms, in particular those of the police. In the meantime, during the implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, Serbia has already shown its considerable administrative capacity, which will allow for the European perspective.  However, it should cooperate more actively with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the reports of the Commission on the progress of the countries as quite exhaustive and presenting objective evaluation of the preparation of the countries for the EU membership, and the remaining problems as well as the areas, which the European Commission named as requiring further efforts, shall help the countries to continue prepare consistently for the EU membership.

The Commission shall continue to closely observe and evaluate the compliance of all EU candidates with the membership requirements that are the same to all the countries. The speed of the EU accession negotiations shall continue to depend directly on the speed of the implementation of reforms in those countries.