Post by MiG on Dec 14, 2007 14:47:27 GMT -5
EU leaders clash over Kosovo, Serbia (1st Lead)
Brussels - European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday were debating whether to grant Serbia a fast-track membership deal as a means of persuading it to relax its opposition to an independent Kosovo.
'I am in favour of a political approach right now,' said Alexandr Vondra, the Czech Republic's deputy premier responsible for European affairs.
Serbia is in the process of finalizing a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) - a precursor to EU membership negotiations - with the 27-member bloc.
The EU suspended its SAA talks with Serbia in 2006, but agreed to resume them in June following the arrest of alleged war criminal Zdravko Tolimir.
The EU executive, the Commission, backed by the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, insists that the signing of the SAA should be conditional on Serbia's full cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
But Italy and the Czech Republic argue that membership talks should not rely solely on whether other wanted criminals are handed over to the court's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, who is set to retire from her post by the end of the year.
'We must do our best to conclude the SAA (with Serbia) no later than the end of January,' Vondra said Friday.
In the run-up to Friday's summit, Italy had been trying to persuade the EU to ignore Del Ponte's claims that Serbia was not cooperating fully with her tribunal and speed up membership talks.
'It is ultimately up to us to decide (whether Serbia should join the EU),' Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said in Brussels on Monday.
Previously out in the cold, on Friday Italy appeared to be gaining the backing of a number of member states in concluding that Serbia's membership should ultimately be a political decision.
In a draft text of the summit's conclusions, EU leaders state: 'In the light of Serbia's considerable institutional capacity, (the Council) reiterated its confidence that progress on the road towards the EU, including candidate status, can be accelerated.'
The Serbian membership debate is closely linked to the future of Kosovo, the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province that is seeking independence from Belgrade.
Vondra said the EU should do its best to keep the Western Balkans under the influence of the West rather than of Russia, which is backing Belgrade's nationalistic government in opposing Kosovo's independence.
While most EU countries are ready to recognize an independent Kosovo, a number of member states with minorities of their own are preventing the bloc from reaching a unified position on the issue.
'Nothing revolutionary will be decided today,' Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said ahead of Friday's meeting.
Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said he was confident that a 'big majority of member states' would agree on how to proceed on the Kosovo issue together.
But leaders, while stressing that diplomatic efforts had failed and that the current status quo in the Western Balkans was 'unsustainable,' were not expected to agree on a common stance.
Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Greece are among the most wary of recognizing an independent Kosovo without the backing of a United Nations Security Council resolution.
They fear that any move to independence by Kosovo could create a precedent for their own separatists, even though Friday's declaration says that 'Kosovo constitutes a 'sui generis' (i.e. unique) case that does not set any precedent.'
The EU is planning to send a mission to the province to help it build up its judicial system.
But the mission is strongly opposed by Serbia and Russia, which insist Kosovo should remain a part of Serbia.
Brussels - European Union leaders meeting in Brussels on Friday were debating whether to grant Serbia a fast-track membership deal as a means of persuading it to relax its opposition to an independent Kosovo.
'I am in favour of a political approach right now,' said Alexandr Vondra, the Czech Republic's deputy premier responsible for European affairs.
Serbia is in the process of finalizing a Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) - a precursor to EU membership negotiations - with the 27-member bloc.
The EU suspended its SAA talks with Serbia in 2006, but agreed to resume them in June following the arrest of alleged war criminal Zdravko Tolimir.
The EU executive, the Commission, backed by the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, insists that the signing of the SAA should be conditional on Serbia's full cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
But Italy and the Czech Republic argue that membership talks should not rely solely on whether other wanted criminals are handed over to the court's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, who is set to retire from her post by the end of the year.
'We must do our best to conclude the SAA (with Serbia) no later than the end of January,' Vondra said Friday.
In the run-up to Friday's summit, Italy had been trying to persuade the EU to ignore Del Ponte's claims that Serbia was not cooperating fully with her tribunal and speed up membership talks.
'It is ultimately up to us to decide (whether Serbia should join the EU),' Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said in Brussels on Monday.
Previously out in the cold, on Friday Italy appeared to be gaining the backing of a number of member states in concluding that Serbia's membership should ultimately be a political decision.
In a draft text of the summit's conclusions, EU leaders state: 'In the light of Serbia's considerable institutional capacity, (the Council) reiterated its confidence that progress on the road towards the EU, including candidate status, can be accelerated.'
The Serbian membership debate is closely linked to the future of Kosovo, the predominantly ethnic-Albanian province that is seeking independence from Belgrade.
Vondra said the EU should do its best to keep the Western Balkans under the influence of the West rather than of Russia, which is backing Belgrade's nationalistic government in opposing Kosovo's independence.
While most EU countries are ready to recognize an independent Kosovo, a number of member states with minorities of their own are preventing the bloc from reaching a unified position on the issue.
'Nothing revolutionary will be decided today,' Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said ahead of Friday's meeting.
Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said he was confident that a 'big majority of member states' would agree on how to proceed on the Kosovo issue together.
But leaders, while stressing that diplomatic efforts had failed and that the current status quo in the Western Balkans was 'unsustainable,' were not expected to agree on a common stance.
Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia and Greece are among the most wary of recognizing an independent Kosovo without the backing of a United Nations Security Council resolution.
They fear that any move to independence by Kosovo could create a precedent for their own separatists, even though Friday's declaration says that 'Kosovo constitutes a 'sui generis' (i.e. unique) case that does not set any precedent.'
The EU is planning to send a mission to the province to help it build up its judicial system.
But the mission is strongly opposed by Serbia and Russia, which insist Kosovo should remain a part of Serbia.
Source: news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1381076.php/EU_leaders_clash_over_Kosovo_Serbia__1st_Lead_