VOA标准英语2009年-Support for Balkans' EU Membership Growing

By Stefan Bos
Budapest
07 October 2009

The Visegrad Group of European Union Foreign Ministers have agreed to support Serbia and other western Balkans countries to become full fledged members of the EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The decision was made at a ministerial meeting in Budapest Tuesday.

 
From left, Foreign Ministers of Belgium, Hungary, Spain, and Slovakia prior to Visegrad Group meeting in Budapest, Hungary, 06 Oct 2009
Foreign Ministers of the European Union member states Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, known as the Visegrad Group, have agreed to support the Western Balkan states to enter the European Union and NATO military alliance, within the next few years.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Balazs said they also agreed to practically support these nations, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, on their road towards Western integration¹.

"We are sending messages to the EU concerning visa liberalization towards various countries of the Western Balkan region," he said. "The inclusion of that region into trans-European networks of roads, railways, energy, inland waterways. And concerning NATO the inclusion of more countries into MAP, the Membership Action Plan."

Croatia is already expected to join the EU by 2011, a move Balazs and other ministers said would give further impetus² to the process of integration and encouragement to the applicant³ countries to carry out reforms.

Spain and Belgium, which will hold the rotating EU presidency⁴ during 2010, said in Budapest that they also support the integration of the Western Balkan nations.

The Czech, Hungarian, Slovak and Polish Foreign Ministers also called for closer ties with Serbia, saying there is a significant improvement in Serbia's cooperation with the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, a key condition for EU membership.

They said the planned scrapping⁵ of visa requirements for travelers from Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro, for January 2010, was a significant step in bringing them closer to the EU

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told VOA News that his country had long been waiting for visa-free travel.

"We are really concentrating on the date that is 2010, which is the year when we hope to travel without visas to the countries of the European Union which is in our opinion the year when no countries in the Western Balkans are to be in a situation that they have not had submitted their applications for membership," he said.

But concerns remain over ethnic⁶ tensions in the region that diplomats⁷ say still hamper⁸ full Euro-Atlantic integration of the western Balkans, including in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This week European and U.S. officials will travel to Bosnia-Herzegovina to try to overcome a political deadlock⁹ in the Balkan country that has blocked its integration into the EU and NATO.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg will meet officials in Sarajevo on Friday to stimulate¹⁰ political dialogue.

Following an ethnic war between 1992 and 1995, the country has been divided into a Serb Republic and a Muslim-Croat Federation¹¹.

Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj told VOA News he hopes the U.S. and EU will provide advice on how to change his fractured country's constitution and how to improve governing the nation.

"We expect the U.S.-EU joined proposal as I see it would bring a breakthrough to Bosnia-Herzegovina because what is happening now is because of the imperfect constitution, which consists of a number of blockages¹², mechanisms¹³ that do not allow that the decision process goes smoothly," he said. "I believe that the constitution of Bosnia should be changed, and should be improved. But we should be realistic. We can not make a revolution."

That's why several delegates at the Budapest meeting said thousands of NATO and EU forces should remain in the volatile¹⁴ region for some time to come.  

1 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

2 impetus   

n.推动，促进，刺激；推动力

参考例句：

• This is the primary impetus behind the economic recovery.这是促使经济复苏的主要动力。
• Her speech gave an impetus to my ideas.她的讲话激发了我的思绪。

3 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

9 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

10 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

11 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

12 blockages   

n.堵塞物( blockage的名词复数 )；堵塞，阻塞

参考例句：

• The storms could increase the risks posed by river blockages. 暴风雨会增加因河道堵塞所造成的危险。 来自互联网
• An angiogram shows the location and severity of blockages in blood vessels. 冠状动脉造影能够显示血管内的阻塞位置以及阻塞的严重程度。 来自互联网

13 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。