Former Bosnian Serb army commander Gen Ratko Mladic
Posted on 06/14/2010 10:31:07 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Serbia has taken a crucial step towards joining the European Union after the Dutch dropped opposition to their membership following progress on war crimes investigations.
Europe's foreign ministers agreed to implement and ratify a frozen trade and aid treaty, known as a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, with Serbia, a precondition for EU entry.
The next step, a formal assessment of Serbia's EU membership application, is expected "in a few months".
Former Bosnian Serb army commander Gen Ratko Mladic
UN investigators will continue monitoring of Belgrade's co-operation with the hunt for General Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander who has been indicted for genocide over the Srebrenica massacre 15 years ago.
Serbia's continued claim to Kosovo and a pending legal challenge to its independence at the International Court of Justice will also be considered before full EU membership talks are opened.
Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's Prime Minister, yesterday attacked the "obsession" with returning his country, a former Serbian province, to Serbia.
"Serbian politics suffer from a necrophiliac obsession with forgotten and dead things. This is the case with the idea of Kosovo returning under Serbian control," he said.
Holland, which had troops stationed at Srebrenica, finally lifted its veto on Serbia after Serge Brammertz, the UN war crimes prosecutor, praised Serbian co-operation, including "successful" search and seizure operations.
"The pressure is working. The change of policy is in Belgrade," said a Dutch diplomat.
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, described the decision as "a significant step forward".
"There is a consensus that the Stabilisation and Association Agreement can proceed and there is a general welcome that Serbia has turned in a European direction," he said. "We want to encourage that and see it continue, so the SAA is a very clear sign."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Would this include Montenegro?
yitbos
Why dont they just torch all their banks to save time?
They'll be looted soon enough.
yitbos
There is no fun in that.
The Pac-10 has some openings. Maybe they should try there too. Apparently, being nowhere close to the Pacific Ocean is not a disqualifier for membership.
FUSC should be looking for another conference. Then we'd be PAC-10 again.
yitbos
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