Brussels, 16/06/2011 (Agence Europe) - Members of the European Parliament warned Serbia not to rest on its laurels after the arrest of former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic and said that Belgrade's quest to join the EU will be more difficult than it thinks. “It's not everything”, the head of the parliamentary delegation to the Balkans, Eduard Kukan (EPP, Slovakia), told Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Delic, referring to the Mladic arrest. “You should not raise the expectations of your people that (membership) will happen soon, because it will not”, he said, at the Parliament's foreign affairs committee on Thursday 16 June.
Mladic, who has been indicted for war crimes including genocide, was arrested in Serbia late last month after more than 15 years on the run. His capture was a condition for Serbia to begin membership talks with the EU. Nevertheless many of the MEPs praised Belgrade for the arrest and said it was a big step forward.
Delic vowed that Belgrade would continue to work hard to implement EU reforms, but he also urged member states not to place any new conditions on Serbia to join. “We didn't do it to get a reward from Europe. We will continue on our reform programme. Our goal is to start in spring our negotiations to join the EU”, he said. “Continue being tough, but don't become unfair. Don't become unfair to Serbian citizens by inventing new hurdles”, he added. Delic noted that only 18 EU nations had ratified Serbia's Stabilisation and Association Agreement, and he called on the others to do so. He also conceded that Belgrade would have to resolve its conflict with Kosovo before Serbia could become an EU member. He said that his government was prepared to talk with Pristina about any issue but that it could not break the laws of its own constitution.
Serbia's Balkans neighbour Croatia completed its membership negotiations with the European Commission last week and could become the 28th EU member state in 2013. Delic played down concerns that Croatia might make it difficult for Serbia to join. He acknowledged that there were “a few issues” to be resolved but that “bilateral relations between Zagreb and Belgrade are on the rise”. Croatia's membership talks were blocked by its Balkan neighbour, and EU member, Slovenia, over a land dispute on their common border. (LoC)