EU-Serbia talks 'resume in June' EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn says he expects partnership talks with Serbia to resume later this month. He said Serbia had now demonstrated "clear commitment to full co-operation" with The Hague war crimes tribunal.
Talks were suspended a year ago, when the EU said Serbia had not done enough to hand over war crimes suspects. Mr Rehn said a date for resumption would be set after tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte returned from a visit to Belgrade next week. The statement followed the transfer to the Hague of Zdravko Tolimir, a former Bosnian Serb general and close aide to key war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic. Mr Tolimir was arrested on Thursday in a joint operation by Bosnian Serb and Serbian police in the border area between the two territories. Serbia's newly-formed government has set up a special national security council, whose main aim is to apprehend the remaining war crimes suspects. It is chaired by President Boris Tadic, who has put a high priority on completing co-operation with the UN tribunal and accession talks with the EU. On Friday Mr Rehn held talks in Berlin with both Mr Tadic and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country currently holds the EU presidency. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/6712957.stm Published: 2007/06/01 15:34:09 GMT (c) BBC MMVII
