EU will sign new pact with Serbia if it fully cooperates with U.N. tribunal
The Associated Press
BRUSSELS, Belgium
The 27-nation bloc will await a report from Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor at the U.N. war crimes tribunal, before deciding when to sign, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said.
“To conclude the process, Serbia now needs to achieve full cooperation,” Rehn said. “We expect to see a positive … and intensified cooperation by the Serbian authorities.”
Del Ponte is expected to visit Belgrade in the coming weeks and Rehn said her assessment would be “critical.”
EU and Serbian negotiators concluded technical talks on the basic elements of the new so-called stabilization and association agreement, which is meant to ready Serbia for a possible EU membership bid.
“We would expect initialing of this agreement in the autumn, hopefully in October,” Serb vice premier Bozidar Djelic told reporters at a meeting with Rehn.
Djelic said that he felt that del Ponte’s visit “will see further improvements in collaboration with the Hague tribunal.”
The EU froze negotiations on the deal for 13 months in a bid to pressure Belgrade to cooperate with del Ponte in bringing in wanted fugitives, notably former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and his army commander, Ratko Mladic.
Talks were resumed after the new Serbian government pledged renewed efforts to apprehend Mladic, particularly following the arrest in May of his former top intelligence officer, Gen. Zdravko Tolimir.
After it comes into force, the new agreement will further open up EU markets to Serbian goods and will enable the Balkan nation to move closer to the bloc, adopting many EU rules and standards, while allowing in more EU aid to help promote widespread economic and political reforms.
Djelic said Belgrade obtained transitional measures to protect “sensitive” farm products such as wheat, milk and wine from competition from the EU. Rehn said the deal would also work alongside a new visa facilitation agreement, which will loosen restrictions on Serbian travelers into the EU. Meanwhile, Rehn said he got assurances from Djelic that Serbia “is by no means contemplating any use of force or military action” to keep Kosovo as a province of Serbia.He reiterated EU calls that both Serbia and Kosovo work for a compromise on the province.
Kosovo Albanians have insisted on independence from Serbia at internationally brokered negotiations on the province’s future. But Serbia, backed by Russia, refuses to let go of a region it considers its historic heartland.
