EU reminds Serbia of Hague obligations

European Parliament rapporteur on Serbia Jelko Kacin Wednesday spoke about his recent visit to Belgrade. Kacin commended the Serbian parliament for adopting a number of important acts recently, such as the appointment of an ombudsman and a trustee for information of public importance. EU reminds Serbia of Hague obligations Kacin congratulated Serbia on its successful completion of the last round of talks for the EU Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), adding that Serbia would not be able to sign the agreement until it had completed cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. He said that this cooperation had reached its final stages and that it must lead to the arrest and extradition of the remaining war crimes indictees. Kacin added that the arrests of Zdravko Tolimir and Vlastimir Djordjevic clearly show that Serbia is able to extradite all Hague fugitives. “Unfortunately, less progress has been made in the nomination of Constitutional Court judges. The Constitutional Court is the highest court for the protection of human rights and freedom, and that is why I am calling on the Serbian administration to appoint these judges,” Kacin said. Kacin also mentioned proposed amendments to Serbia’s progress report, notably a compromise amendment for Kosovo, which Kacin hopes will receive widespread support. He stated that he had tried to find a compromise that would contain the message that Kosovo’s final status will stabilize the entire Western Balkans and will facilitate the integration of the whole region into the EU. He also offered amendments to his Vojvodina report and two more amendments regarding fugitives and human rights protection for minorities in Serbia, Vojvodina included. He repeated that the agreement between Serbia and the EU for visa relaxations would be signed on Monday, which is good news for a country where one-third of students have never traveled abroad. Kacin added that this agreement was a very important step in the liberalization of travel, but that the final goal had to be free travel for all Western Balkan citizens. “For this reason, we are asking parliamentary officials to support amendment 10, which calls on concrete plans regarding visa relaxations to be implemented,” Kacin said.

EU reminds Serbia of Hague obligations

Kacin congratulated Serbia on its successful completion of the last round of talks for the EU Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA), adding that Serbia would not be able to sign the agreement until it had completed cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

He said that this cooperation had reached its final stages and that it must lead to the arrest and extradition of the remaining war crimes indictees.
Kacin added that the arrests of Zdravko Tolimir and Vlastimir Đorđević clearly show that Serbia is able to extradite all Hague fugitives.

“Unfortunately, less progress has been made in the nomination of Constitutional Court judges. The Constitutional Court is the highest court for the protection of human rights and freedom, and that is why I am calling on the Serbian administration to appoint these judges,” Kacin said.

Kacin also mentioned proposed amendments to Serbia’s progress report, notably a compromise amendment for Kosovo, which Kacin hopes will receive widespread support. He stated that he had tried to find a compromise that would contain the message that Kosovo’s final status will stabilize the entire Western Balkans and will facilitate the integration of the whole region into the EU.

He also offered amendments to his Vojvodina report and two more amendments regarding fugitives and human rights protection for minorities in Serbia, Vojvodina included.

He repeated that the agreement between Serbia and the EU for visa relaxations would be signed on Monday, which is good news for a country where one-third of students have never traveled abroad.

Kacin added that this agreement was a very important step in the liberalization of travel, but that the final goal had to be free travel for all Western Balkan citizens.

“For this reason, we are asking parliamentary officials to support amendment 10, which calls on concrete plans regarding visa relaxations to be implemented,” Kacin said.