EU at odds on whether to punish Serbia for Kosovo violence

Dec 1, 2011, 18:10 GMT

Brussels - European Union foreign ministers sent discordant signals Thursday on whether Serbia should be denied the status of official candidate to the bloc due to violence by ethnic Serbs in the north of Kosovo.

'The European perspective of Serbia has not become more concrete through the events of the last days, weeks and months,' German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in Brussels, after a meeting with EU counterparts.

But other EU ministers were less harsh, and stressed the strategic importance of strengthening Serbian President Boris Tadic's pro-European side ahead of elections next year.

'We need to send positive signals, and therefore France supports granting Serbia the status of candidate' to the EU, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said. The question is on the agenda for a December 9 EU summit.

His Italian counterpart, Giulio Terzi, said Tadic's reaction to the violence had been 'laudable,' and indicated that the debate among EU ministers revealed 'few, but very firm' opinions against letting Serbia advance towards EU membership.

Serbs in northern Kosovo have put up barricades to prevent the Kosovo government from assuming control over two border crossings to Serbia proper. The two sides had agreed in European Union-brokered talks in July that Kosovo would assume control of those crossings.

NATO soldiers from Germany, Austria and Hungary have launched initiatives to tear down the barricades. The latest of these operations led to 30 of them being injured Monday by small arms fire, improvised bombs and petrol bombs.

'I am particularly saddened because I am among those who repeatedly pointed to the European perspective of Serbia,' Westerwelle said.

After Monday's incident, Serbian President Boris Tadic urged Kosovo Serbs to abandon the roadblocks. 'This way we cannot solve any problems,' he said.

'It is absolutely necessary that President Tadic doesn't just say something about it, but that actions follow so that the involved culprits are investigated and convicted,' Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger protested on Thursday.

NATO took a similar stance, as it released a statement welcoming Tadic's remarks, but warning that they 'must be followed by concrete actions.'

A positive EU summit decision on Serbia would need unanimous support, giving Germany and other hard-line countries veto powers. Last week, Belgrade was told that, to win over their scepticism, it needed to strike new agreements in the EU-brokered talks with Kosovo.

On Wednesday, the two sides met in Brussels for 12 hours, but no results were announced. Negotiations resumed on Thursday at 11 am (1000 GMT) and were still ongoing nearly eight hours later, EU diplomats said.

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