Although the European Union pledges to 'maintain [and reaffirm] the credible enlargement perspective for the Western Balkans,' (European Commission, 2018), some of the new requirements which it demands the Western Balkan candidate states to meet in order to gain membership seem to be very demanding for the political leaderships of these states. This is particularly the case for the requirement that candidate states solve all their 'bilateral disputes…as a matter of urgency'. While Montenegro hopes to solve its only remaining (though nearly thirty year old) dispute with Croatia over their maritime border sometime soon, the second regional frontrunner for EU membership, Serbia, and the other remaining Western Balkan states (with the partial exception of Albania) have many more (and more serious) problems to resolve with their neighbours. This article discusses the nature and origins of problems in several most complex bilateral relationships in the Western Balkans and critically assesses the difficulty these problems pose for the Western Balkan states' accession to the EU.
Serbia, as the second regional frontrunner (after Montenegro) in the EU accession process, hopes to be able to meet the required conditions and join the EU by 2025 which the European Commission 2018 enlargement strategy declared as the earliest possible date for the admission of new EU members. However, some of the EU’s expectations and requirements which Serbia has to meet, particularly those regarding the ‘normalisation’ of its relations with Kosovo and the resolution of ‘bilateral disputes’ which it has with some other neighbours, seem to be very tough and challenging for the Serbian government. The article discusses the recent developments in Serbia’s relations with its ‘most problematic’ neighbours and critically assesses the strength of problems in these relations as an obstacle for Serbia’s accession to the EU. The article shows that thanks to EU assistance and the commitment of interested parties to find a common ground, Serbia’s relations with Kosovo may become even less of an obstacle to its accession than its relations with its three western neighbours, particularly Croatia.
In the spring of 2003, a meeting was held in Ottawa under the auspices of the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) to discuss the idea of planning a conference to address the status and future of research within Canada's museums. In recognition of the cross-disciplinary nature of the topic, but also in an attempt to explore common and diverging concerns, an ad hoc committee, chaired by Laura Brandon, was formed. The committee included willing representatives from art, history, and science museums, as well as the director of the CMA. The committee was later expanded to include representation from Quebec and the academic community. An initial decision was made to avoid debate over the definition and nature of 'curatorship' and focus on research, particularly collections-based research. It was also determined that any meeting should be clearly aimed at establishing a specific action plan. To this end, an inclusive and consultative format, involving facilitated breakout sessions, was chosen for what was ultimately called The Museum Research Summit. q
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