Co-operation Decisive for Serbia-Montenegro's EU Integration

25/01/2005

Serbia-Montenegro's major foreign policy goals -- obtaining a positive Feasibility Study from the EU, launching Stabilisation and Association talks with the Union, and joining NATO's Partnership for Peace programme -- are being delayed by the Belgrade government's lack of co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal.

By Dusan Kosanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade - 25/01/05

EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn made it clear that Serbia-Montenegro's progress towards integration depends on meeting all international obligations, including full co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal. [Laura Hasani]

Among countries in the Western Balkans, Serbia-Montenegro has the farthest to go in its progress towards integration in the EU and NATO. The government in Belgrade has set three major foreign policy goals for 2005: obtaining a positive Feasibility Study by April, launching Stabilisation and Association Talks with the EU, and entering NATO's Partnership for Peace programme by the end of the year.

All these goals are potentially within reach. But none can be attained until the country makes visible progress in its co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Underlining the importance of this issue, EU security chief Javier Solana cancelled a visit to Belgrade scheduled for last week, saying issues he planned to discuss with the Serbian leaders were not "matured enough to be solved". His comments -- widely seen as referring to the Belgrade government's failure to hand over indicted war criminals to the UN court -- followed an earlier decision by the United States to freeze $10m in aid to the country and remove US technical advisers from Serbian ministries

During his visit to Belgrade on Monday (24 January), EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn made it clear that Serbia-Montenegro's progress towards integration depends on meeting all international obligations, including full co-operation with the UN tribunal.

An EC delegation arrives in Belgrade on Wednesday to determine whether to launch a Feasibility Study for Serbia-Montenegro. There appears to be little chance of a positive outcome. Officials in Brussels have been quoted as saying that they will shelve the study indefinitely rather than make a negative report.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica says that Serbia is aware that the Feasibility Study depends on co-operation with the ICTY, and that he expects the issue will be "resolved soon".

According to Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus -- who leads the G17 Plus party, a member of the ruling coalition -- time is running out. "In the next few days, we must concentrate on finding a way out of this situation. The goal is to receive positive Feasibility Study marks. Everyone knows what must be done, and we have several more days to do it," Labus said following Solana's cancellation.

"All of my activities in the coming days will be focused on doing what is necessary to get those positive critiques from the Feasibility Study, and I think it is important that we all use the next few days to do everything we can with that goal in mind," he added. Labus has warned that G17 could leave the government if no breakthrough is achieved.