The Parliament adopted resolutions on the progress of Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania will be on the agenda later next month.
MEPs praised the progress made by Montenegro, saying that it was the only country in the region opening and provisionally closing negotiation chapters.
Negotiations with Serbia have formally begun, but no chapters have been opened yet. Macedonia, which was awarded candidate status in December 2005, has not yet been given a start date for the opening of negotiations. Albania also has candidate status, but is unlikely to start talks any time soon, while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have not yet been given candidate status.
The Parliament welcomed Montenegro's full alignment with the EU foreign and security policy, but called for further progress in combating corruption and ensuring independence of the judiciary and freedom of the media. Montenegro was invited to deal with the problem of border demarcation with Croatia without delay and through negotiation, and if that was not possible, to settle the issue at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
The new government in Kosovo was urged to start working on key reforms and in particular to step up efforts in the area of the judiciary and rule of law, ensure an independent judiciary and pursue an effective fight against corruption and organised crime.
MEPs called on the Council for the ninth time to set a date for the launch of accession talks with Macedonia without delay, or risk undermining the credibility of the EU's enlargement policy. They said that the issue of the country's name, which is contested by Greece, should not be an obstacle to the opening of negotiations, but should be resolved before the conclusion of accession talks. The EU's high representative was called upon to facilitate dialogue between all political parties and put an end to the polarised political climate, while the government and the opposition in Macedonia were urged to ensure constructive political cooperation and speed up the European agenda.
"With today's vote we are giving full support for the European perspective of Macedonia. Now it is high time for Council to give the green light for the opening of accession negotiations and for Macedonia and Greece to find a mutually acceptable solution to the name issue. A stable and prosperous Macedonia is in the interest of its neighbours and of Europe as a whole," the EP Rapporteur on Macedonia, Slovenian Liberal Ivo Vajgl, said.