Brussels, 20/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - In Brussels on Monday, the Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, Carla del Ponte spoke of her "serious concern in view of the absence of a manifest will to cooperate from Belgrade". Speaking to the press, Carla del Ponte said that the President of the European Commission and the EU High Representative for foreign and security policy, whom she met on Monday, "were very receptive" to her analysis of the situation. Javier Solana assured her that the EU Troika, on its trip to Belgrade on 8 February, had "sent a very clear message by which without cooperation with international organisations, of which the ICTY, there could be no full integration of Yugoslavia into the European family". Romano Prodi, for his part, stressed that the EU had "instantly called on the new democracies to begin cooperating with the International Tribunal". "This must happen progressively but the signal must be given", declared the President of the European Commission.
This question will be broached by the Fifteen at the General Affairs Council of 26 February, the Commission President stipulated. European sources tell us that this issue will not however be the main topic of a debate on the "Balkans" issue that will comprise the situation in the Valley of Presevo, the situation in Montenegro and a report by Javier Solana on the Summit of South East European countries to be held in Skopje on Friday.
The ICTY Prosecutor also called on the Belgrade authorities to provide a "concrete sign" of their will to cooperate. While waiting for the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic, Carla del Ponte would like to see that of other people indicted, like the Bosnian Serb Ratkto Mladic. European sources stress that the EU also backs that stance.