Brussels, 16/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU is willing to begin negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) by the end of the year, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn announced on Thursday after a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. “We should be able to end technical preparations by the end of the year. Our aim is to be ready in October, for the 5th anniversary of the democratic uprising in Belgrade” against Slobodan Milosevic's regime, he told the press. Mr Rehn also congratulated Belgrade for the “significant progress” the Serb government has made over recent months concerning cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). “I have encouraged Mr Kostunica to continue searching for Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic with a view to their arrest and transfer to the ICTY', Mr Rehn said. Mr Kostunica denied that the Belgrade authorities had negotiated with Mr Mladic on the conditions for his transfer to The Hague: “We are not in contact with him and we are not negotiating with him”.
Mr Rehn also seized the opportunity afforded by the press conference to reassert that, despite the “enlargement blues” that seems to be taking over the citizens and political class in Europe, the EU wants and must keep its commitments towards the countries of the Western Balkans. “It is important to stress that we are not taking a sabbatical break from our work in favour of security and stability in the Western Balkans”, he underlined, saying: “We are concerned about the worries of our citizens and therefore have to be cautious as regards making any new commitments in the field of enlargement. However, at the same time, it is equally important to keep our existing commitments in the accession process, including the Western Balkans”. Stopping or slowing down the integration process for these countries (Ed.: to which the EU has already offered the prospect of membership once the accession criteria have been met) would be counter-productive and dangerous for stability in the region and in Europe as a whole, Mr Rehn stressed. Mr Kostunica announced that his government planned to adopt a strategy on Friday to prepare Serbia and Montenegro for European Union membership in 2012.