Montenegro takes first step towards joining European Union*

By David Brunnstrom
Reuters
Monday, October 15, 2007; 12:23 PM

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The world's newest state Montenegro signed an
accord with the European Union on Monday that put the small Adriatic
republic on the first rung of the ladder to eventual membership of the
27-nation bloc.

Prime Minister Zeljko Sturanovic signed the Stabilisation and
Association Agreement (SAA) with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg
after overcoming a last-minute hitch involving Bulgaria, which objected
to the wording of the text.

Sofia had threatened to delay the signature in its battle for the right
to use the Bulgarian name "evro" for the currency in its Cyrillic
alphabet, but it allowed the signing to go ahead after EU envoys pledged
in a declaration to address the problem.

Montenegro, which has a population of just 650,000 people, voted to
leave its union with Serbia in May 2006. Serbia's own progress toward EU
membership was held up again on Monday by its failure to hand over war
crimes suspects to a U.N. tribunal.

"Montenegro is closer to Europe today," Sturanovic told a news
conference, adding that it hoped to launch an official application for
EU membership in the first half of 2008.

Much work lies ahead with reforms to bring the country into line with EU
standards and practices. Montenegro is not expected to join the bloc
before 2015.

Rehn called Monday's signing "an important milestone" and said it showed
that despite lingering problems, the Western Balkans was making steady
progress towards the European Union.

"We often hear bad news from the Western Balkans and we do have serious
challenges in the region. That's why it is great to have again good news
from and for the Western Balkans."

Rehn said the SAA would bring concrete trade and economic benefits and a
visa deal due to enter into force in January would bring easier and
cheaper access to visas for Montenegrins.

"I trust that this SAA with Montenegro will serve as an inspiration for
the other countries of the region too," he told the news conference.

The EU ministers put off a decision on initialing an identical pact with
Serbia after the chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor said Belgrade's
cooperation with her tribunal was insufficient.