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EU's Rehn calls for Serbia to fulfill its obligations to the ICTY

Jul 22, 2009, 17:01 GMT

Belgrade - European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, in a visit to Belgrade on Wednesday, welcomed Serbia's efforts to join the European Union but said the country needed first to fulfill its obligations to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. That obligation includes the capture of Bosnian Serb military leaders and war crimes suspects Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, and their extradition to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). 'The European Commission fully supports Serbia's European perspective and its membership in the EU once the conditions are met,' Rehn said after meeting with Serbian officials. Meanwhile, Rehn on Wednesday evening is to continue his tour around the Balkans with a visit to Montenegro where he will deliver a questionnaire on democratic reforms and the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Montenegro. Montenegro's candidate status for EU membership depends on the answers given to almost 2,000 questions posed by the European Commission. Podgorica is expected to give the answers within four months. 'I believe that we will pass that test successfully,' Montenegro's Foreign Minister Milan Rocen said before Rehn's visit. After Belgrade and Podgorica, Rehn will also visit Macedonia and Bosnia.

Europe News

EU's Rehn calls for Serbia to fulfill its obligations to the ICTY

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