Serbia's SRS agrees to support SAA ratification

05/09/2008

BELGRADE, Serbia -- Political parties in parliament reached an agreement Thursday (September 4th) to back the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU. The main opposition Serbian Radical Party (SRS) agreed to support the SAA after the government accepted its proposal to amend the draft ratification law, deputy SRS leader Tomislav Nikolic said. "We are not changing the accord itself, but the law on ratification will include an obligation for the Serbian government to interpret the SAA in a way that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia," Nikolic said.

Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said the agreement is a sign of a "new national consensus on EU integration". Only the Democratic Party of Serbia and New Serbia still oppose adopting the SAA. They argue that the amendment proposed by the SRS does not oblige the EU to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia.

In other news Thursday, Djelic said he believes the European Commission (EC) will unblock the interim trade agreement with Serbia at its September 15th meeting. He reiterated that one of the government's aims remains adding Serbia to the White Schengen List by year's end.

Separately Thursday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said Serbia's future steps towards EU membership will require a unanimous decision by all EU members. In an interview with B92 TV, Rehn said that after Hague tribunal chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz visits Belgrade next week, the EC will once again review Serbia's co-operation with the court to determine whether to implement the interim trade agreement. He described the July arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic as "an important move that the EU should recognise". (Beta, Tanjug, B92, RTS, FoNet - 04/09/08)