Jean de Ruyt, EU ambassador for Belgium, the country currently holding the rotating EU presidency, told the press today (22 October) that an agreement was in sight at the next ministers' meeting in Luxembourg.
He added, however, that in return for the deal, the EU would apply "very, very close monitoring" on Serbia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Nevertheless, De Ruyt said that some member countries were still opposed to introducing a strict conditionality clause referring to the ICTY.
This is the first time the term "monitoring" has been used in connection with a Western Balkan country's accession process. De Ruyt admitted himself that such a strict monitoring system had not been applied to Croatia, a country well advanced in its EU accession negotiations. He added, however, that similar conditions would apply for Zagreb in the crucial negotiation chapter of justice and fundamental rights.
"The cooperation of Serbia with ICTY is not perfect, but we should decide at the end of the accession process," the Belgian diplomat said.
According to De Ruyt's reasoning, each step of Serbia's EU accession process would be conditional on cooperation with the ICTY. All decisions on enlargement-related issues are taken by unanimity, and in a country's accession process, there are over one hundred veto opportunities.
De Ruyt explained that the situation in the Netherlands was "complicated," with a new minority government, new ministers responsible for EU enlargement and a Parliament which gave "little window of opportunity" for the cabinet to unblock Serbia's EU bid.
In particular, the Parliament had instructed the government to postpone any decision regarding Serbia ahead of the next report on the country by ICTY chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz.
De Ruyt said that in theory, the decision regarding Serbia's accession process could be postponed, but there was a sense that "we have waited long enough already".
He also insisted that the EU wanted to maintain the political momentum created by Belgrade's acceptance to engage in talks with Kosovo, its former province which declared independence in 2008.
As reported by AFP, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci has agreed to begin EU-brokered talks with Serbia before early elections in February, despite the current political crisis in Pristina.
Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu surprisingly announced his resignation on 27 September, following a constitutional court ruling that prohibited him from serving as head of state and leader of his political party simultaneously.
"The [first] meeting between the two sides should happen within weeks," said an anonymous European official, cited by Kosovo daily Koha Ditore.
According to the New York Times, Ratko Mladić, one of the two war criminals still at large, was probably hiding in Novi Belgrad, a high-rise suburb of the Serb capital, moving from one non-descript apartment to another.
