The European Union has had hard nuts to crack in 2008 as the
future status of Kosovo, ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, among
others, remain precarious and sensitive.
The first thorny issue the 27-nation bloc has to handle in 2008
is that of Kosovo, a breakaway Serb province, which is likely to
declare independence in the weeks to come.
Dimitri Rupel, foreign minister of Slovenia, which assumed since
Jan. 1 the rotating EU presidency, acknowledged that his country
will be faced with a hard job concerning the Kosovo issue.
The EU remain divided on whether to recognize a one-sided
declaration of independence of Kosovo, where 90 percent residents
are ethnic Albanians.
The province has been administered by the United Nations since
1999.
Most members such as France and Britain are supporters, while
nations such Cyprus and Greece are hesitant in recognizing an
independent Kosovo mindful that the move would trigger similar
actions in their territories or elsewhere.
Serbia, backed by Russia, insisted that Kosovo remains an
integral part of its territory, calling for continued negotiations
after direct talks mediated by the troika - the United States, the
European Union, and Russia - failed to yield results.
The ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, signed by leaders of EU
nations on Dec. 13, is another sensitive issue in 2008 before it is
expected to go into force in the beginning of 2009.
The ill-fated Constitutional Treaty was aborted during the
process of ratification in 2005 because of the rejection by Dutch
and French voters in referenda.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa voiced here on Wednesday
his hope that the majority of EU states would ratify the Treaty
during Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of the year.
He said in addressing a plenary session of the European
Parliament (EP) that "by signing the treaty, our task is far from
being completed."
"We have now entered the period of ratification, which is - as
we have learned from the 2005 experience - the most sensitive stage
in the process of adoption of the treaty," he noted.
"The goal is to have the Lisbon Treaty enter into force on
Jan.1, 2009, which among other things also means that there is
still much to be done as regards the necessary preparations," Jansa
stressed.
Under the treaty, regarded to be a revised edition of the
constitutional treaty, the role of the High Representative for the
European Foreign Policy will be strengthened and a president of the
EU Council will be elected by a qualified majority for a period of
two and a half years.
Analysts here believe that the wrangling for the two posts would
be fierce.
(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2008)
