Brussels, 31/03/2008 (Agence Europe) - The foreign affairs ministers of the member states of the European Union devoted much of their informal meeting, held in Brdo on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 March, to the relations of the EU with the Balkans states. In a declaration published after the meeting, the Slovenian Presidency reaffirms the European prospects of all of the countries of the region, on the basis of the Thessaloniki agenda.
On Saturday morning, the foreign affairs ministers of the European Union had breakfast with their Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic, thus renewing high-level contacts with Belgrade since the majority of countries of the EU recognise the independence of Kosovo, which was proclaimed on 17 February. “Despite all of our differences” [with the EU], “we remain determined to continue on the path towards European integration”, Mr Jeremic told a press conference after this meeting (our translation). “Serbia will be a member of the European Union. In a few years' time - not many years, maybe four, five or six years”, he added, although Serbia will pursue its “diplomatic fight” to “preserve its territorial integrity”. “We will make no compromises regarding our territorial integrity”, he warned. The Serbian minister left Brdo immediately after this press conference, thus avoiding a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, who had come to take part in the ministerial meeting of the EU. During the meeting, the Kosovar prime minister took pains to stress his willingness to guarantee the rights of everybody in a multi-ethnic Kosovo.
The EU27 held a long discussion on the signing of the stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) with Serbia, which is still being slowed down by a lack of cooperation on the part of the Belgrade authorities with the Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Several countries, including France, Greece, Austria, Spain and Portugal, spoke along these lines, bringing pressure to bear on the Dutch and Belgian ministers, who continue to call for the war criminals to be arrested. According to a French diplomat, we must “give the Serbs something tangible before the elections of 11 May”, which prompted a Belgian diplomat to retort that this discourse comes up every time elections are held in Serbia and that the full cooperation of the Serbian authorities with ICTY is vital. “The independence of Kosovo is exceptional in its nature, and we should respond to this exceptional situation with another form of exception, with the signature of the association agreement with Serbia”, is the official line taken by Quai d'Orsay.
On the sidelines of the informal meeting, the European commissioner for enlargement spoke of optimism as to the possibility of speeding up the various processes of European integration in the Balkan states. Hoping to see a signature of the SAA with Bosnia-Herzegovina and possibly even with Serbia before the end of April, Olli Rehn also voiced hopes that a name may soon be found for the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. (O.J.)