EU credits Serbia by initialling pre-membership pact

Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn announced that he will initial a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia today (7 November) – a key step on the country’s path to EU accession – despite concerns that Belgrade could be doing more to bring alleged war criminals to justice.

The initialling of the pact is a sign of recognition of the progress that Serbia has made over the last twelve months, notably in cooperating with the international tribunal in The Hague in the hunt for war crimes suspects that are still at large, the enlargement commissioner explained.

“This marks a real turning point for Serbia,” he said, as he presented reports on the reform efforts of EU candidate and potential candidate countries on 6 November. 

The next key step for Serbia on the road to EU membership would be the signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement by all EU member states, which, if all goes well, could happen as early as January 2008. 

However, Rehn stressed: “A necessary condition for final signature of the agreement remains full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia which should lead to the arrest of Mladic and other arrests.” 

Serbian officials claim they are already doing all they can and have lost track of Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander wanted on genocide charges. But UN war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte believes he is still in hiding in Serbia and that Belgrade has the means to locate and arrest him (EURACTIV 16/10/07). 

The campaign group Human Rights Watch criticised the EU decision, saying it could harm efforts to bring war criminals to justice: “Commissioner Rehn is rewarding Serbia even as it harbours a general accused of genocide. This sends the message that the EU is prepared to let those who commit horrific crimes wait out justice and ignores the victims of horrific atrocities committed in the heart of Europe,” said Lotte Leicht. 

The EU’s move, however, comes as a gesture of support to Serbia’s EU aspirations at a time when relations between the two parties are being tested by disagreement over the future status of Kosovo, the breakaway southern Serbian province, which has been under international civil and military administration since the 1999 conflict. 

While Belgrade remains adamantly opposed to ceding the province, a number of European countries have signalled that they would recognise a unilateral declaration of independence by Kosovo, if current negotiations fail (EURACTIV 13/09/07). The so-called Contact Group leading the talks is to report back to the UN by 10 December.

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