Post by MiG on Dec 14, 2007 14:46:01 GMT -5
Most EU states ready to sign pact with Serbia: Czech minister
14 December 2007, 18:47 CET
(BRUSSELS) - A majority of European Union nations want to sign a pact on closer ties with Serbia, perhaps as soon as next month, Czech European Affairs Minister Alexandr Vonda said Friday.
He said that, with the EU supporting moves by the Serbian province of Kosovo to break away, the bloc was keen to demonstrate that Belgrade has a European future to stop it from turning toward Russia.
"I'm in favour of a political approach," Vonda told reporters on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.
He said the EU should do its best to conclude a Stabilisation and Association Agreement "no later" than the end of January.
"Our interest is to keep Kosovo under European influence ... and to keep Serbia under European influence rather than Russian influence," he said.
The only real obstacle to a signature of the accord -- a first step for Balkans states to join the EU -- is that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Kardzic and his war-time military chief Ratko Mladic are still at large.
The two have been indicted for genocide by the UN war crimes tribunal over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys -- the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
The EU has always insisted that Serbia's EU future depends on full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, baseed in The Hague, the Netherlands.
UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, whose mandate ends at the end of the month, said this week that full cooperation meant getting Mladic, whom she says has been hiding in Serbia, behind bars.
Del Ponte has been supported by the Netherlands and Belgium.
But several countries, led by Italy, have been demanding that the pact be signed quickly to staunch Serbian anger as it parts with its ethnic-Albanian majority southern territory, almost certainly by May.
Signing in January would provide a boost for pro-European Serbian President Boris Tadic as he confronts the nationalists in presidential elections set for January 20.
If Dutch objections are overcome, diplomats said that the trade and aid pact could be signed at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers on January 28 in Brussels.
In an interview with Friday's Le Soir newspaper in Belgium, Del Ponte expressed concern that Europe appeared to be backing away from its past tough stance on Serbia.
"Serbia only cooperates when it's under pressure and that must continue," she said. "I am stunned by the attitude of France, Germany and Italy who want to soften their position."
"As these decisions are taken by unanimity, I'm counting on Belgium and the Netherlands," she said.
In conclusions from their summit, the European Union's leaders expressed confidence that Serbia's "progress on the road towards the EU, including candidate status, can be accelerated."
14 December 2007, 18:47 CET
(BRUSSELS) - A majority of European Union nations want to sign a pact on closer ties with Serbia, perhaps as soon as next month, Czech European Affairs Minister Alexandr Vonda said Friday.
He said that, with the EU supporting moves by the Serbian province of Kosovo to break away, the bloc was keen to demonstrate that Belgrade has a European future to stop it from turning toward Russia.
"I'm in favour of a political approach," Vonda told reporters on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.
He said the EU should do its best to conclude a Stabilisation and Association Agreement "no later" than the end of January.
"Our interest is to keep Kosovo under European influence ... and to keep Serbia under European influence rather than Russian influence," he said.
The only real obstacle to a signature of the accord -- a first step for Balkans states to join the EU -- is that former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Kardzic and his war-time military chief Ratko Mladic are still at large.
The two have been indicted for genocide by the UN war crimes tribunal over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of about 8,000 Muslim men and boys -- the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
The EU has always insisted that Serbia's EU future depends on full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, baseed in The Hague, the Netherlands.
UN chief war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, whose mandate ends at the end of the month, said this week that full cooperation meant getting Mladic, whom she says has been hiding in Serbia, behind bars.
Del Ponte has been supported by the Netherlands and Belgium.
But several countries, led by Italy, have been demanding that the pact be signed quickly to staunch Serbian anger as it parts with its ethnic-Albanian majority southern territory, almost certainly by May.
Signing in January would provide a boost for pro-European Serbian President Boris Tadic as he confronts the nationalists in presidential elections set for January 20.
If Dutch objections are overcome, diplomats said that the trade and aid pact could be signed at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers on January 28 in Brussels.
In an interview with Friday's Le Soir newspaper in Belgium, Del Ponte expressed concern that Europe appeared to be backing away from its past tough stance on Serbia.
"Serbia only cooperates when it's under pressure and that must continue," she said. "I am stunned by the attitude of France, Germany and Italy who want to soften their position."
"As these decisions are taken by unanimity, I'm counting on Belgium and the Netherlands," she said.
In conclusions from their summit, the European Union's leaders expressed confidence that Serbia's "progress on the road towards the EU, including candidate status, can be accelerated."
Source: www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1197654422.87