Dutch urged to clear path for Serbia EU agreement

According to EU diplomats, the Netherlands is under pressure from other EU countries to drop its opposition to the signing of a pre-accession Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia, in a bid to boost the pro-European camp ahead of the parliamentary elections on 11 May.

A Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson told EURACTIV that he could “not confirm” that his country was under pressure from other EU members. But a diplomatic source from the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs told EURACTIV that while Madrid did not contact the Dutch Foreign Minister directly with such requests, “contacts were made with colleagues and diplomats at other levels”. He added that this did not only concern the Netherlands, implying that Belgium was also consulted. 

The Netherlands objects to signing the SAA with Serbia if Belgrade does not “fully cooperate” with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The conditions include the handover of General Ratko Mladic and former political leader Radovan Karadzic to the Hague tribunal of war criminals. Serbia denies both men are on its territory. 

Within the EU, Belgium is the only country aligning with the Netherlands in insisting that the signing of the SAA be made subject to progress with the ICTY. But Belgian diplomats explained this was out of “Benelux solidarity” and indicated that their country would be willing to drop its opposition, especially if the Netherlands also abandoned its hard line. 

The Dutch position can be partly explained by the fact the country is hosting the ICTY. But it is also due to bad memories from the recent past. The Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia in 1995, when an estimated 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed by the army of Republika Srpska and other paramilitary units, took place despite the presence of 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers in the area. Following an investigation, the Dutch Government accepted partial responsibility and the second Wim Kok government resigned in 2002. Ever since, the capture of Mladic and Karadzic ranks highly among Dutch priorities. 

The latest polls surrounding the forthcoming Serbian elections reveal that the pro-European camp of President Boris Tadic and the ultranationalist radicals are neck-and-neck. The declaration of independence by Kosovo and the recognition of the former Serbian province as an independent nation by several EU countries played against the pro-European camp. EU diplomats expressed the hope that the signing of the SAA could “make it up somehow”, although they admitted there was no guarantee of this. 

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