Serbia promises more co-operation with the Hague tribunal

Serbia plans stronger co-operation with the international war
crimes tribunal on former Yugoslavia and looks forward to the EU’s
feasibility report for Serbia and Montenegro next year.

Belgrade expects the EU to complete its feasibility study for
Serbia and Montenegro by the spring of 2005, said Prime Minister
Vojislav Kostunica following his meeting with EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana. He said that the Serbian government was about
to pass legislation that would allow direct election for the
Serbia-Montenegro State Union parliament. This, he added, is one of
the EU’s political requirements towards greater integration.

Kostunica also said that more “voluntary surrenders” by war
crimes suspects are expected by the end of November. Carla del
Ponte, the Hague International Tribunal’s chief prosecutor, is
scheduled to present her report to the UN Security Council on 25
November. The surrender of new suspects would, in Kostunica’s view,
be the best form of co-operation with the tribunal. 

Solana reiterated the EU’s strong support for Serbia and
Montenegro, stressing the Union’s commitment to its “twin-track”
approach to concluding a Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
He also emphasised that significant progress in co-operation with
the Hague tribunal was needed to allow Serbia and Montenegro’s
faster progress towards Europe.

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