EU threatens to freeze talks with Serbia By James Kanter International Herald Tribune
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2006 BRUSSELS European Union foreign ministers threatened to freeze negotiations on closer ties with Serbia and Montenegro, saying the Balkan country risked returning to its nationalistic past by failing to hand over indicted war criminals. The ministers demanded that Serbia surrender key figures involved in the Balkan wars of the 1990s or face a postponement of closer integration with the 25-member bloc. The demand came after a week of frenzied speculation about possible attempts by the Serbian government to encourage the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Ratko Mladic, to surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands. The French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, said he had given his full support to what diplomats contended was a harder EU line, saying Mladic and the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, must be immediately "arrested and transferred to The Hague." Otherwise, Douste-Blazy said, "We shall have to put the negotiations on hold." Mladic and Karadzic were indicted in 1995 on charges of orchestrating the massacre of about 8,000 Muslims in the worst carnage seen in Europe since World War II. Numerous deadlines for Belgrade to cooperate with the tribunal have come and gone, but this latest one may have greater leverage right now, since Serbia is committed to signing a deal on closer economic and political ties that hold the prospect of greater aid and trade. Formal negotiations for an association agreement were approved in October and the next round of talks is scheduled for April 4 and 5. The Serbs have "a very short period of time, roughly until the end of March, fully to cooperate," said Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, whose country now holds the EU presidency. Earlier Monday, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said the EU had to get tough with Belgrade. Unless that happened, he said, the Serbs "cannot expect the full cooperation from the European Union in return." Despite the tough talk, the Serbs may not even have to place Mladic into the custody of the international court to escape a serious setback to their bid to draw closer with Europe. Instead, EU ministers said a good- faith effort would suffice. Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for enlargement, said the "provision of witnesses and documents" and signs that Serbia was doing all it could to arrest war crimes suspects would be sufficient. Talks would not start from scratch - as some diplomats had hinted Monday could be the case - even if the EU decided to freeze negotiations. Instead, said Rehn, "negotiations could be recovered" once the Serbs cooperated. But Rehn warned that there could be no "flirting with the nationalist past." The foreign minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Vuk Draskovic, said late Monday that he understood what was necessary for talks to continue with the EU. But he blamed forces at home for protecting war criminals and he insisted he did not know the location of Mladic. Draskovic said a hard core loyal to the former regime was seeking "a repetition of the past, isolating Serbia" and undermining the chances of Serbia moving closer to the EU. The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, has warned that without consistent pressure from the 25 member bloc Serbia was unlikely to cooperate. Del Ponte's spokeswoman, Florence Hartmann, said Monday that prosecutors had suspected Mladic was living in Serbia and that the onus was now on the European Union to push Serbia harder. "We are in 2006 and nothing has happened," Hartmann said. "There are no international forces we can count on, and no other police apart from those on Serbian territory." Rehn said the problem in Serbia was the continuing influence of the military, which was blocking the capture of Mladic and other war crimes suspects. It was necessary to make sure, he said, that the "army and security services are under democratic and civilian control." Nicholas Wood contributed to this article from Belgrade. BRUSSELS European Union foreign ministers threatened to freeze negotiations on closer ties with Serbia and Montenegro, saying the Balkan country risked returning to its nationalistic past by failing to hand over indicted war criminals. The ministers demanded that Serbia surrender key figures involved in the Balkan wars of the 1990s or face a postponement of closer integration with the 25-member bloc. The demand came after a week of frenzied speculation about possible attempts by the Serbian government to encourage the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Ratko Mladic, to surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Netherlands. The French foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, said he had given his full support to what diplomats contended was a harder EU line, saying Mladic and the Bosnian Serb leader, Radovan Karadzic, must be immediately "arrested and transferred to The Hague." Otherwise, Douste-Blazy said, "We shall have to put the negotiations on hold." Mladic and Karadzic were indicted in 1995 on charges of orchestrating the massacre of about 8,000 Muslims in the worst carnage seen in Europe since World War II. Numerous deadlines for Belgrade to cooperate with the tribunal have come and gone, but this latest one may have greater leverage right now, since Serbia is committed to signing a deal on closer economic and political ties that hold the prospect of greater aid and trade. Formal negotiations for an association agreement were approved in October and the next round of talks is scheduled for April 4 and 5. The Serbs have "a very short period of time, roughly until the end of March, fully to cooperate," said Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, whose country now holds the EU presidency. Earlier Monday, the British foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said the EU had to get tough with Belgrade. Unless that happened, he said, the Serbs "cannot expect the full cooperation from the European Union in return." Despite the tough talk, the Serbs may not even have to place Mladic into the custody of the international court to escape a serious setback to their bid to draw closer with Europe. Instead, EU ministers said a good- faith effort would suffice. Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for enlargement, said the "provision of witnesses and documents" and signs that Serbia was doing all it could to arrest war crimes suspects would be sufficient. Talks would not start from scratch - as some diplomats had hinted Monday could be the case - even if the EU decided to freeze negotiations. Instead, said Rehn, "negotiations could be recovered" once the Serbs cooperated. But Rehn warned that there could be no "flirting with the nationalist past." The foreign minister of Serbia and Montenegro, Vuk Draskovic, said late Monday that he understood what was necessary for talks to continue with the EU. But he blamed forces at home for protecting war criminals and he insisted he did not know the location of Mladic. Draskovic said a hard core loyal to the former regime was seeking "a repetition of the past, isolating Serbia" and undermining the chances of Serbia moving closer to the EU. The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, has warned that without consistent pressure from the 25 member bloc Serbia was unlikely to cooperate. Del Ponte's spokeswoman, Florence Hartmann, said Monday that prosecutors had suspected Mladic was living in Serbia and that the onus was now on the European Union to push Serbia harder. "We are in 2006 and nothing has happened," Hartmann said. "There are no international forces we can count on, and no other police apart from those on Serbian territory." Rehn said the problem in Serbia was the continuing influence of the military, which was blocking the capture of Mladic and other war crimes suspects. It was necessary to make sure, he said, that the "army and security services are under democratic and civilian control." Nicholas Wood contributed to this article from Belgrade. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] =============== Group Moderator: [EMAIL PROTECTED] page at http://magazine.sorabia.net for more informations about current situation in Serbia http://www.sorabia.net Slusajte GLAS SORABIJE nas talk internet-radio (Serbian Only) http://radio.sorabia.net Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sorabia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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