Brussels, 18/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - A very large majority of MEPs of all political groups give very clear support to Serbia's prospective EU membership but insist on strict compliance with the Copenhagen criteria, especially reform of the legal sector, as well as full cooperation with the International Criminal Court on the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). This was what resulted from the debate held by the European Parliament on Tuesday 18 January the day before the vote for endorsing the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA), scheduled for Wednesday 19 January in Strasbourg.
The Serbian SAA had long been blocked by the Netherlands which reproaches the Belgrade authorities for not fully collaborating with the ICTY and for not doing everything possible to arrest Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, both accused of war crimes and both being sought. Last June, after quite a positive report from ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, the Foreign Affairs Council broke the deadlock on the dossier and gave the go-ahead for the ratification process on the agreement. As things stand, about ten member states have already carried out ratification. The EP will follow on Wednesday. The Hungarian Presidency and the Commission trust that ratification by all the parliaments of the 27 member states may be closed by the end of the year, it was affirmed by Hungary's European Affairs Minister Eniko Györi and Enlargement Commissioner Štefan Füle, speaking to MEPs. Györi stressed that 2011 would be a key year for Serbia, first of all because entry into force of the SAA will provide many good possibilities for strengthening cooperation and preparing accession, and also because the Commission is to present its opinion on Serbia's application for membership, submitted in December 2009, during the second half of 2011. This timetable was confirmed by Commissioner Füle. Serb responses to the Commission's questionnaire are expected for the end of the month, which should allow the Commission to finalise its opinion for the second half of the year, he said. With ratification of the forthcoming entry into force of the SAA, Serbia is “taking a major step on its path toward the EU”, Füle said. The agreement must be understood by Belgrade as a “message of support and encouragement for pursuing reform and reconciliation in the region” of the Balkans, including with Kosovo, the commissioner said. The SAA - which provides for the gradual establishment of a free trade area and Serbia's progressive integration in the EU internal market - will also have a major economic impact as it will “boost investments and growth and help the country to become a functioning market economy”, Füle said.
Serbia has become a “factor of stability” in the Balkans but it must resolve two main problems compared to the EU, namely the arrest of Mladic and Hadzic and the question of Kosovo, said György Schöpflin (EPP, Hungary). It must also reform its justice system and “open up to its past”, he said. Maria Eleni Koppa (S&D, Greece) underlined the need for good regional cooperation, including with Greece. Romanian Liberal Norica Nicolai pointed out that her group, the ALDE, has always backed accession by the Balkan countries on condition, however, that the Copenhagen criteria are kept to the letter. From this point of view, Serbia still has a long way to go, she commented. Marije Cornelissen (Greens/EFA, NL) warned the EU that it should not play the “political game” of quid pro quo with Belgrade, for example by granting it visa liberalisation in exchange for a positive approach on Kosovo. On the question of cooperation with the ICTY, for example, the EU must not give way she said, as “Mladic and Hadzic are war criminals who must not escape justice”. The EU must not make this a “subject of diplomacy”, she added. Sarah Ludford (ALDE, UK) called on Belgrade (which says it is doing its utmost to find the two fugitives) to “bridge the gap between declarations and deeds”. Hannes Swoboda (S&D, Austria) shares this point of view. “As far as cooperation with the ICTY is concerned, we are not yet satisfied. It can be done better”, he said. (H.B./transl.jl)