Serbia welcomes EU decision over membership (Roundup)

Oct 25, 2010, 17:18 GMT

Belgrade - Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic on Monday welcomed the European Union's decision to advance Belgrade's application for membership as a sign that Serbia is on the right path.

'This news shows that our efforts so far have been recognized by the European Union,' Cvetkovic told reporters after EU foreign ministers agreed to forward Belgrade's membership application to the European Commission for technical analysis.

Cvetkovic said Belgrade would intensify its efforts to become a member of the EU.

Earlier, Serbian Defence Minister Dragan Sutanovac echoed Cvetkovic's comments. 'Serbia's European journey is unstoppable,' he said.

The EU, however, has conditioned progress on membership on the arrest of two war crimes suspects, Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic and former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

Speaking on the fringe of a conference with visiting defence officials from Namibia, Sutanovac insisted Serbia has the political will to bring the two fugitives to justice.

'The Defence Ministry is giving its full contribution in the search' for Mladic and Hadzic, he said.

Officials at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia have accused Serbia is not doing enough to arrest and extradite Mladic and Hadzic.

Mladic has been charged with genocide in connection with the 1995 execution of 8,000 Muslims in the town of Srebrenica.

Hadzic faces trial for war crimes in connection with the killing of civilians during the Serb and Yugoslav army siege of Vukovar in 1991.

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