Brussels, 24/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - During a meeting with the President of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, on Tuesday, the EU High Representative for CFSP, Javier Solana, called on leaders of both Serbia and Montenegro to put an end to their internal political wrangling and pull the stops out to ensure the federal institutions functioned smoothly. He urged Belgrade (Serbia) and Pristina (Montenegro) to begin dialogue as soon as possible about areas of mutual interest, as they promised at the Thessalonica European Summit on the Balkans (21 June 2003). Welcoming the finalisation of the trade and internal market action plan, Solana said it needed to be rapidly ratified by the federal parliament to enable the European Commission to start a feasibility study regarding the launch of negotiations leading to the signing of an Association and Stabilisation Agreement between the EU and Serbia and Montenegro (see the conclusions of the External Relations Council in our 24 July issue, p.4).
The same day, Marovic went to the NATO headquarters in Brussels to meet the Atlantic Alliance's Secretary General, Lord Robertson. Marovic said Serbia and Montenegro would cooperate in the arrest of Ratko Mladic to stand trial at the Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for suspected war crimes during the Bosnian war. Ratko Mladic's arrest is one of the two remaining preconditions for Serbia and Montenegro to join NATO's Peace Partnership, explained Lord Robertson. The other precondition is the end of legal proceedings against eight NATO members over the air raids against former Yugoslavia carried out during the Kosovo war in 1999.