VOA常速英语2007年-EU Praises Croatia, Serbia, Scores Turkey, Othe

By Teri Schultz
Brussels
06 November 2007

The European Union has issued its annual enlargement update, assessing the progress of seven candidate countries toward full membership in the 27-nation bloc¹. The E.U. concluded no country, with the possible exception of Croatia, will likely meet its membership goal for this decade. Teri Schultz reports for VOA from Brussels.

The European Union is holding Croatia up as a role model for the other Balkan countries of how to prepare for accession to the European Union. E.U. Enlargement Commissioner² Olli Rehn says that's an important role.

"Croatia is increasingly becoming a positive benchmark for the other countries of the Western Balkan…demonstrating with its progress to the region as a whole that the European perspective is indeed real and tangible³. It is doable," he said.

 

Despite reservations, Rehn has decided⁴ to initial the "Stabilization⁵ and Accession Agreement with Serbia, a first step on the road to membership.

Rehn calls this a "real turning point" for the country. "After a long nationalist night in the 90's, a democratic dawn broke in 2000 and now a new European dawn is in the making for Serbia," he said.

Just a year ago, E.U.'s negotiations⁶ with Serbia were suspended due to Belgrade's failure to apprehend⁷ and extradite indicted⁸ war criminals to The Hague. Chief Prosecutor⁹ of the war crimes tribunal, Carla del Ponte, accused Serbia of hindering her prosecution¹⁰ of those accused of atrocities¹¹ in the Balkan wars.

Rehn said del Ponte has now given Belgrade a better grade after it transferred 20 of 24 indictees to the Hague and made information available to the tribunal.

But he said the E.U. expects Serbia to continue to cooperate with the war crimes court and speed up the pace of reforms. And, while emphasizing that the issue of Kosovo's independence is not directly linked to Serbia's membership, Rehn made it clear the E.U. expects Serbia not to destabilize the region over Kosovo's status.

The E.U. 's report on Turkey emphasizes that high among the improvements it expects are greater rights and freedom of religion and expression. It also said Ankara must improve its relations with Cyprus.

Rehn said the E.U. was particularly concerned about Article 301 of Turkey's penal¹² code, which makes it a crime to insult the government or Turkish identity. "It is simply not acceptable in a European democracy that writers, journalists or any citizen for that matter are prosecuted¹³ for simply expressing a critical but completely non-violent opinion," he said.

 

Other candidate countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro, were told by the E.U. they must step up reforms to build what Rehn called "modern democracies" and develop a culture of political dialogue.

1 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

8 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

9 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

10 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

11 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 penal   

adj.刑罚的；刑法上的

参考例句：

• I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
• He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。

13 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。