Serbs better believe when Rehn promises them bright future in the EU! "It is important that Serbia would now be able to turn the page and leave the nationalist past behind and approach its European future," Rehn said. == http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL26582289 Brussels tells Bosnia not to miss EU opportunity Tue Feb 26, 2008 1:07pm EST By David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Bosnia could sign an agreement in April bringing it closer to EU membership, the European Union said on Tuesday, urging the Balkan state to complete police reforms to avoid missing the opportunity. If Bosnia does sign the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) it will leave Serbia, dragging its feet on war crimes and smarting over the loss of Kosovo, the only Western Balkans' state still to take the first step to EU membership. "I would expect we should be able to sign an SAA with Bosnia-Herzegovina shortly, that is in April, on condition that Bosnia-Herzegovina can adopt the required laws concerning police reform," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn told reporters. "It's a great opportunity for the country and I trust the leaders will not miss this opportunity," he said ahead of meeting in Brussels on Wednesday with Bosnia's leadership. Rehn stressed that the door remained open to Serbia. "Serbia has a very real and tangible European perspective," he said. "I trust that the Serbian leaders will pay attention to the fact that 70 percent of the Serbian population is in favour of membership of the European Union." "We are ready to move forward with Serbia once Serbia is ready to move forward and meets the political conditions." After the failure of earlier attempts to unify Bosnia's ethnically split police forces, the upper house of its central parliament this month adopted draft laws on a modest reform that observers believe has some chance of passing. APPROVAL OF LAWS If the laws are approved in the coming weeks, EU officials will appraise whether they are sufficient for the signing of the SAA to go ahead. "It would be a step forward if they are able to pass (the laws)," said Brigadier General Vincenzo Coppola, the official in charge of an EU police mission in Bosnia who will co-author the EU's appraisal of the reform. "If they (Bosnians) show enough willingness, positive thinking and pro-activeness, there is enough to go forward," he told a news briefing in Brussels. The European Union is keen to see Serbia as a member along with the rest of the countries of the Western Balkans, but Belgrade's progress has been stalled by its failure to hand over war crimes suspects. The SAA was initialled last year but the EU has said it will not sign it until Belgrade fully cooperates with the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. And last week EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned Serbia that violence seen over Kosovo's secession from Belgrade could have an impact on EU-Serbian ties. Speaking after protesters attacked the U.S. and some European embassies in Belgrade, he said the mood would have to calm down before any progress towards signing the SAA. The EU was ready to sign an interim deal with Serbia but Belgrade's nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica blocked the move earlier this month because of the row over Kosovo. "It is important that Serbia would now be able to turn the page and leave the nationalist past behind and approach its European future," Rehn said. (Additional reporting by Mark John) Boba Borojevic [Е-ПОШТА ЗАШТИЋЕНА] http://serbianna.com/columns/borojevic/ http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/pertep (613) 852-1971 Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! http://www.flickr.com/gift/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
