It was the first time a European leader had warned that Putin was seeking to press Balkan states to his side in the worsening tug-of-war in Europe between Moscow and Brussels.
One idea was that if Bosnia and the other western Balkan states would join the European Union on that day, events could be held to mark their "return to Europe".
All the Balkan economies are intimately connected to the euro zone so the decline in demand from the euro zone has hit their economies hard.
"If we can prove that we can keep a long-term sustainable business, that should then attract a serious partner," he insists.Similar conclusions will likely be reached by the five Balkan states now eyeing up EU accession (Slovenia, like Croatia, is already a member).
On March 9th in the south-eastern province of Siirt, his wife's home area, he was elected with a resounding 85% of the vote.In this section The tremors of Balkan history Soon it will be dispensing justice Against America?
If only NATO countries, he laments, had used a tiny proportion of what they have spent on bombs to help modernise Macedonia and other Balkan countries, the region would have had a better chance of being integrated into Western Europe.But perhaps a lesson has been learned.
Apart from Croatia and, eventually, a few Balkan states, EU enlargement has more or less ground to a halt.
Anglo American, another vast mining firm, is said to be eyeing Xstrata too.For background, see article BALKAN watchers expect Kosovo, at last, to declare independence at some time this week.
Busting Turkey's grey male monotony Yevgeny Primakov, Russia's martial artist Wary Spaniards A beleaguered Balkan outpost of sanity The mixed feelings of Europeans Loyal Italians Orthodox but unorthodox By-passing Russia ReprintsNow the same sort of Russian tactics may be coming into play over Kosovo.
But Austria-Hungary, Russia's rival on the Balkan peninsula, was another matter.
