European Forum

Serbia to apply for EU membership this year

Serbia plans to formally apply for EU membership by the end of this year and has pledged it will catch war criminals as soon as possible, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told European lawmakers last week. "The basic groundwork is there for Serbia to submit its official application for EU membership. We hope to do so by the end of this year," Jeremic said in front of the European Parliament's (EP) Foreign Affairs committee.

Catching war criminals not accomplished yet
The sticking point in EU-Serbian relations is the hand-over of war criminals such as former Bosnian Serb leader Ratko Mladic, who still remain at large. The former general is accused of having ordered the Srebrenica massacre, in which some 8,000 Bosniaks were killed. A government official said last week that a majority of Serbs are still opposed to his extradition to the Hague. Mr Jeremic reassured MEPs that his government was "searching every square millimetre of [its] national territory" for the fugitive. "If we knew where he was, he would not be at liberty, I can guarantee that," he said. The UN's chief prosecutor for former Yugoslavia, Serge Brammertz, was in Serbia on 5 November to review the government's efforts in catching the inductees. His assessment, due in December, will play a major role in whether member states accept Belgrade's EU application.

The Netherlands remains the strongest opponent of letting Serbia getting closer to the EU so long as Mladic remains at large. The Srebrenica massacre has had a painful impact on Dutch public opinion, as it was a Dutch UN battalion that pulled out of the enclave in July 1995 shortly before the atrocities took place.

EU enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn praised Serbia's "considerable progress over the past 12 months" and suggested the government has done enough to alleviate Dutch concerns. "Serbia has already for some time been cooperating very well" with UN's War Tribunal, he said at a joint press conference with the Serbian official.

The pro-European government in Belgrade last year handed over another Serb inductee of the Hague tribunal, Radovan Karadzic, whose trial was to start last week. Karadzic, however, boycotted the start of the trial and refused to enter a plea, after which the trial was eventually suspended until March 2010.

Kosovo issue
Reacting on Serbia's will to apply for EU membership, Mr Rehn joined MEPs in calling for Serbia to adopt a "more constructive attitude towards Kosovo" -which is recognised as independent by a majority of EU states. This issue is likely to outlive the current government, however. Speaking earlier in the EP, Jeremic said that his country will "never, under any circumstances, implicitly or explicitly recognise the unilateral declaration of independence - by the ethnic-Albanian authorities of our southern province of Kosovo." When asked by MEPs to appeal to Serbs living in Kosovo to take part in next week's local elections, Mr Jeremic said it was "impossible" for Belgrade to endorse the elections, which were "in breach" of the Serbian constitution.

Candidacy in agreement with EU partners
Office for European Integrations Director Milica Delević said that Serbia will submit its application in agreement with its European partners. She said that consultations will first be held to determine how the application will be received by EU members. Delević said that European integration is a process in which it is difficult to speak in terms of dates, and that it is “important to remember that integration will not be completed until the Western Balkans are accepted” into the EU.

Visa free regime
When asked about a date for visa liberalization, Delević replied that the EP will vote on it on 12 November. Expressing her expectations that Serbian citizens “will soon travel without visas,” Delević said that the Serbian Interior Ministry is preparing a leaflet on safe and legal travel, which will explain the advantages of the Schengen zone.

Sources: Balkan Insight; SETimes; EU Observer