AP News, January 28th, 2008
European Union nations agreed Monday on an offer to set up regular political ties with Serbia, open up trade and end visa restrictions, but it fell short of a wider deal to prepare Serbia for EU membership.
The gesture is meant to boost support in Serbia for pro-Western forces who are under threat in Sunday's presidential elections from nationalists angry over international backing for Kosovo's bid for independence.
The EU fears a nationalist win will return Serbia to isolation, further destabilizing the region as tension mounts over an expected declaration of independence by Kosovo in the coming weeks.
A deal to prepare Serbia for EU membership was blocked by the Netherlands because of Belgrade's failure to hand over Bosnian Serb war crimes suspects Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic to the international court in The Hague, Netherlands.
"I hope it is a very clear signal, not just to Serbia as a country, but to all Serbs that across the European Union, 27 countries want to engage with Serbia," said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
The offer was warmly welcomed by the Serb government. "Today represents a very important day on the path toward full European Union membership for the Republic of Serbia," Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told a news conference after joining the EU talks.
Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic faces a tough runoff election Sunday against ultranationalist Tomislav Nikolic, who was an ally of late autocratic President Slobodan Milosevic.
By offering closer ties, economic incentives and the eventual prospect of EU membership, EU nations hope to anchor Serbia to the West.
The EU said it will sign the interim agreement Feb. 7. The EU official in charge of membership negotiations said he would travel to Belgrade on Wednesday to start talks on opening up visa-free travel for Serbs.
"I know 70 percent of Serbian people are in favor of EU membership and this is a response to that call," said EU Enlargement Commissioner Ollie Rehn.
Rehn offered some support to Serbia's claims it is doing all it can to cooperate with the international tribunal, but that it cannot find Mladic and Karadzic.
"Cooperation with (the tribunal) has been intensified, and Serbia has addressed many of the shortcomings," he told a news conference. "There are grounds to say that Serbia is approaching to full cooperation."
The EU said the offer of eventual membership remains open.
EU nations had hoped Serbia and the ethnic Albanian leadership in Kosovo could agree on the future of the territory which has been administered by the United Nations, backed by 16,000 NATO peacekeepers, since a 1999 NATO bombing campaign ended Milosevic's crackdown on the separatists.
However following the failure of negotiations, EU governments are resigned to Kosovo declaring independence, probably in the coming weeks.
