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Serbia's EU accession talks blocked by Croatia - New Europe By NEOnline | TB Published 09:55 March 21, 2016 Updated 09:55 March 21, 2016 _____ As long as Serbia does not repeal the controversial law on universal jurisdiction, Croatia will block its EU accession negotiations, the Croatian foreign ministry has warned. In a statement, the ministry said: "We support Serbia's efforts to move closer to the EU. The conditions which Serbia must meet to open the important Chapter 23 of the accession negotiations are, among others, respect for human rights (especially minority rights) in accordance with international conventions and ratified international agreements, the full cooperation with the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and judicial reform which includes the abolition of jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes in the entire territory of the former Yugoslavia". As reported by the online news site Total News Croatia, the law on universal jurisdiction has been a controversial point in the Croatian-Serbian relations since Serbia adopted it in 2003. Croatia believes that with such a law Serbia has tried to become a sort of "mini-Hague" that would have the right to prosecute anyone. Meanwhile, Croatia's Deputy Prime Minister Božo Petrov has accused Serbia of not wanting to force war crimes suspect and former deputy Prime Minister Vojislav Šešelj who is currently in Serbia to go to the Hague Tribunal. Croatia's Prime Minister Tihomir Tim Orešković said on March 18: "We all know that Serbia wants to start negotiations to become a new member of the EU. I am convinced that Serbia will make the right choice". -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "serbia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/serbia. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
