BELGRADE — Olli Rehn says that Serbia could become a candidate for EU membership in the first half of 2009.
The EU enlargement commissioner said that the arrest of Radovan Karadžić was a key step for Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague Tribunal that had to be recognized.
“We must recognize this, and continue to support Serbia’s orientation towards the EU,” Rehn said.
In an interview with state broadcaster RTS, Rehn avoided giving a direct answer when asked whether Karadžić’s arrest would be enough to “unfreeze” the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), adding that this was now “in the hands of the EU member states.”
“On behalf of the European Commission, I said that we would like to implement the transitional SAA. However, this enters the purview of the member states, especially when it comes to the area of trade, such as in the case of the trade quota,” Rehn explained.
Asked whether he expected a consensus to be reached among EU member-states before the summer recess for implementation of the SAA to begin, Rehn said that some member-states first wanted to see Karadžić transferred to The Hague.
“I think that the sooner this happens, the better, because if the transitional agreement was to start, Serbia could start working on the technical aspects of implementation of the SAA, because that is a very important element for the decision concerning Serbia’s candidacy,” Rehn said.
Meanwhile, Dutch European Affairs Minister Frans Timmermans said that an era of Serbia’s cooperation with the Hague Tribunal had come to an end with Karadžić’s arrest, but that that the key proof of full cooperation would be the arrest of Ratko Mladić.
Timmermans told daily Dnevnik that a positive report from Hague Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz would not change Holland’s stance if Mladić was not extradited to The Hague.
“The arrest of Karadžić does not achieve full cooperation for Serbia, but is an important step towards that goal. But Ratko Mladić is the number one person we are interested in. And we must not forget about Goran Hadžić. He must be brought to justice as well,” Timmermans insisted.
He said that once Mladić was arrested, the EU Council of Ministers would be able to take a decision on further steps for Serbia’s European integration.
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