Ljubljana, 08/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - The Slovenian presidency of the EU is putting on the pressure for the speedy signing of the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) with Serbia, preferably before the General Affairs Council on 28 January. Addressing a group of European journalists on 8 January, the Slovenian foreign affairs minister, Dimitrij Rupel, explained that “certain countries are still having problems” signing the text (Ed: Netherlands, Belgium and to a lesser extent, the Scandinavian countries) but the Slovenian presidency would do everything in its power to convince them to support this “crucial” decision for the continued European integration of Serbia. Later in the day, at the end of a meeting with Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner (external relations) in the Slovenian capital, Mr Rupel informed the press that he would be proposing the creation of a special taskforce in charge of helping the Serbian authorities to “make faster progress on the road towards the EU”. The taskforce will consist of representatives from the Slovenian presidency, from the next French presidency, the Commission and Council, explained Rupel, who gave no indication of the exact role of the taskforce, or the timetable for its work programme. Would the creation of this group not make the signing of the SAA by the end of January (as requested by the Slovenian presidency) impossible? Rupel was keen to point out that “all options are open”. For the current president of the Council of the EU, it would be logical that the signing of the SAA rapidly follows the granting of candidacy status to Serbia.
Rupel stressed that speeding up Serbia's rapprochement does not mean that the EU would get rid of any of its conditions, particularly full cooperation from Belgrade with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY). He affirmed that it would only be up to the EU and not the ICTFY to decide whether this condition had been met or not. In the past the EU always referred to the recommendation by the Tribunal's general prosecutor, Carla del Ponte, in concluding that the required “full cooperation” had still not been provided. The Slovenian presidency places less importance on the opinion of the ICTFY. Mr Rupel asserted that “full cooperation with the international tribunal remains a condition for signing the SAA. Who will decide whether this condition has been respected or not? It is the Council of the EU that will judge”.
The commissioner in charge of enlargement, Olli Rehn, shares Slovenia's impatience on Serbia but insists, much more than Rupel does, on strict respect for conditionality. During a visit of the College of Commissioners to Ljubljana on 8 January (see other article), Mr Rehn informed the press that the SAA should be signed “as soon as possible” and the EU is “technically ready” to do it immediately, “but it is important that everyone in Serbia realises that the condition of full cooperation with the ICTFY remains in place. This is crucial”. The last word, however, will not be the ICTFY's. Rehn affirmed: “We have never subcontracted our political decision-making on enlargement to other organisations or institutions”. Nonetheless, before making its own decision, the EU will also take into account the opinion of the new general prosecutor at the ICTFY, Serge Brammertz, from Belgium, whom Mr Rehn intends to consult very soon. Mr Rehn said that “Serbia has to do all in its power to arrest the last of the fugitives” accused of war crimes and to transfer them to The Hague, adding that this was still the condition for signing the SAA. (H.B.)