Balkan states advance EU bids, Serbia hamstrung

LUXEMBOURG, June 12 (Reuters) Albania, Croatia and Montenegro advanced their European Union entry ambitions on Monday, but western Balkans neighbour Serbia remained hamstrung by war crimes fugitives.

Albania, a once reclusive Stalinist state of 3.5 million, signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement that is a first step towards EU membership, while Croatia was due to open and close the first of 35 negotiating ''chapters'' of its bid.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg also endorsed a referendum that created the new Balkan state of Montenegro, another EU aspirant, clearing the way for individual member states to establish diplomatic relations with the country.

However, the ministers concluded that failure to hand over war crimes fugitives, including Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, remained a ''fundamental obstacle'' to EU entry, a reference to the suspension of EU talks with Serbia last month.

Like Croatia, late today Turkey was to open and close the first negotiating chapter -- that on science and technology -- but only after days of haggling by EU diplomats to overcome Cypriot objections, giving a taste of the difficulties Ankara can expect with its EU bid in future.

Turkey and Croatia began accession negotiations last year and while they would stay in step today, diplomats noted that science and technology was a very uncontroversial chapter and in other reform areas Ankara had more to do than Croatia.

While welcoming Albania's first step towards EU entry, the EU's executive stressed the country still faced a difficult path of reform before joining, including fighting organised crime.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Albania had no time to lose.

''These are formidable challenges,'' she said. ''To be successful, all political forces in Albania should unify.'' Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha called it a ''historical landmark towards fulfilment of Albanians' dream to return and reunite with their European family'' and pledged tireless reform.

While the states of the Western Balkans have been persistently assured of a European future, ''enlargement fatigue'' is expected to slow down their membership bids as are prospects for Turkey joining.

Turkey has been seeking EU membership for decades, but many Europeans oppose membership for a poor, largely Muslim state that would take the sprawling bloc's borders to the West Asia.

Croatia's entry has been projected for 2009 or 2010, while the earliest date for Turkey is seen as 2014. Albania, Serbia and Montenegro are not expected to join before 2015.

REUTERS SY BD2224