EU moves on Serbia membership but demands Mladic's capture

Oct 25, 2010, 11:18 GMT

Luxembourg - European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed to let Serbia take a small step towards eventual membership - but demanded the capture of war-crimes suspects Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic as the price of any further concessions.

Mladic is accused of masterminding the massacre of some 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in the enclave of Srebrenica in 1995. The enclave had been protected by Dutch peacekeepers, and the Netherlands has been demanding Mladic's arrest ever since.

EU ministers agreed to forward Serbia's membership application, which it submitted in December, to the European Commission for technical analysis, diplomats at a meeting in Luxembourg said.

The EU executive is now expected to analyse Serbia's legal code to see whether the country is ready for EU accession.

But at the same time, member states stressed that 'further steps will be taken when the council (of EU states) unanimously decides that full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) exists.'

'Serbia's assistance in the key matter of the arrest of the two remaining fugitives, Ratko Mladic and (Croatian Serb leader) Goran Hadzic ... would be the most convincing proof of Serbia's efforts and cooperation with ICTY,' their joint declaration said.

Most decisions on EU accession have to be taken by unanimity, but some technical issues have in the past been open to majority voting. Monday's statement gives the Netherlands complete veto rights over every future step in Serbia's bid.

Sweden had opposed the Dutch stance, arguing that it was unfair to politicize technical issues. Ministers agreed to soften their wording slightly in response to Sweden's demands.

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