European Union leaders welcomed western Balkan countries today to talks on forging closer economic and political ties.
The five western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro - are all keen to join the wealthy bloc, but face a hard slog as they reform their economies and try to cement democracy and the rule of law.
"The speed of movement ahead lies in the hands of the countries of the region," the EU and the five states said in a draft summit declaration obtained by Reuters.
The draft identified organised crime and corruption as major obstacles for the region, Europe's poorest which is still recovering from a decade of ethnic strife in ex-Yugoslavia.
But the 15-nation EU, which is set to take in 10 new members mostly from ex-communist eastern Europe next year, also stressed that all five Western Balkan countries should join eventually.
"The future of the Balkans is within the European Union. The ongoing enlargement...inspires and encourages the countries of the Western Balkans to follow the same successful path," it said.
Mr Chris Patten, the EU's Commissioner for External Affairs, described the region as "one of the missing pieces in our jigsaw Europe". The EU is planning to smooth the path by ploughing an extra euro200 million of aid into the five countries. This comes on top of euro4.6 billion already committed by the EU for the 2000-06 period. The EU aims to admit neighbouring Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and diplomats say Croatia, the most economically advanced of the five Western Balkan states, has a reasonable chance of catching up with them.
The other four states seem likely to wait much longer. Only Croatia and Macedonia have so far negotiated a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU - the first major step towards full membership.
The EU-Western Balkans meeting comes on the heels of an EU summit in this picturesque Greek coastal resort which began on Thursday and has been mainly focused on plans for institutional reform to help the bloc function better after enlargement.