EU keeps trade deal with Serbia "frozen"

Reports from Brussels say there was no agreement within the EU to allow a provisional trade agreement with Serbia. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said Monday that despite positive steps, Serbia has not achieved full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and that the unfreezing of the Interim Trade Agreement will depend on Belgrade's future actions. EU keeps trade deal with Serbia "frozen" Chief Hague Prosecutor Serge Brammertz pointed to Serbia's progress and positive steps, such as the arrest of Radovan Karadzic, and this is a start, Verhagen said after the European Union Council of Ministers session at which no consensus was reached to give a green light to implementation of the agreement. "Whether and when the agreement will be unfrozen depends on specific actions, not promises by Serbia," he said, expressing hope that positive steps will be taken in the future leading to the arrest of Ratko Mladic. A vast majority of EU member-states urged the unblocking of the provisional deal with Serbia, EU Council of Ministers chairman Bernard Kouchner of France said and voiced his regret because a consensus on this issue had not been reached at the Monday meeting. The topic of this debate was whether a step forward should be made after the arrest of Karadzic and whether the provisional agreement should be unblocked, Kouchner told a news conference after the end of the EU Council of Ministers meeting. EU High Representative for foreign policy and security Javier Solana voiced his expectation that further meetings would be held in the next few weeks, "including meetings on the margins of the General Assembly in New York", and that he hoped that the implementation of the agreement would be possible in October. The initiative to unfreeze the deal was supported by 25 EU member states, but it was blocked by Holland, which is still unsatisfied with Belgrade's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal. Only the arrest of Ratko Mladic and his extradition will be considered "full cooperation", it was said in Brussels this Monday. Belgium supported this position as well, reports specify. The agreement in question is a part of the SAA, suspended immediately after the signing in April, pending Belgrade's full cooperation with the UN war crimes court located in The Hague. Earlier in the day reports suggested that Brammertz's opinion would be crucial as EU foreign minister consider whether to allow the deal to go ahead. But Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic was not an optimist this morning: "The latest information is not favorable," he told Tanjug news agency. According to Djelic, a negative decision would do Serbia an "injustice". He also added that the government will "struggle until the last moment for this not to happen". "It wouldn't be the first, and likely not the last injustice, but that's no reason to change the strategic course of our country," he said, and explained that he meant speedy joining of the EU, defense of territorial integrity and fight against corruption. At the same time, observers said that should the Brammertz opinion after his visit to Belgrade last week be positive, it could be a key argument against Holland's firm position that there is no full cooperation yet. Verhagen said ahead of the meeting that the arrest of Karadzic, while undoubtedly an important move on the part of Serbia, "still does not represent full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal". He received the backing of his British counterpart David Miliband for this, who said last week he would "not take part in pressures on Holland" to change this position. On the other hand, most EU member states and some officials such as Jose Manuel Barroso, Javier Solana, Olli Rehn and Bernard Kouchner, who presided over the meeting today, believed the agreement should have been allowed to come into force. Yesterday, Austria's Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik hinted in a statement that this issue will not be given much time by the EU ministers today, because of a full agenda. That agenda, according to Plassnik, will include attempts to reach a common EU position on Serbia's initiative to ask the International Court of Justice about the legality of Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence. Kouchner speaks in a news conference in Brussels on Monday (FoNet) "Do it unilaterally" European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said on Monday in Brussels after the European Union Council of Ministers did not decide to unfreeze the Interim Agreement with Serbia that Belgrade should start implementing that agreement, as well as the Stabilization and Association Agreement, "unilaterally". "The Serbian government should unilaterally start implementing the provisions of both agreements," he told the press after the EU session at which no consensus was reached to give a green light to implementation. "Most of the provisions can be implemented unilaterally. If Serbia starts to do so soon, it will prove its capability to implement the agreements properly and thus accelerate its integration in the EU," Rehn said.

EU keeps trade deal with Serbia "frozen"

Chief Hague Prosecutor Serge Brammertz pointed to Serbia's progress and positive steps, such as the arrest of Radovan Karadžić, and this is a start, Verhagen said after the European Union Council of Ministers session at which no consensus was reached to give a green light to implementation of the agreement.

"Whether and when the agreement will be unfrozen depends on specific actions, not promises by Serbia," he said, expressing hope that positive steps will be taken in the future leading to the arrest of Ratko Mladić.

A vast majority of EU member-states urged the unblocking of the provisional deal with Serbia, EU Council of Ministers chairman Bernard Kouchner of France said and voiced his regret because a consensus on this issue had not been reached at the Monday meeting.

The topic of this debate was whether a step forward should be made after the arrest of Karadžić and whether the provisional agreement should be unblocked, Kouchner told a news conference after the end of the EU Council of Ministers meeting.

EU High Representative for foreign policy and security Javier Solana voiced his expectation that further meetings would be held in the next few weeks, "including meetings on the margins of the General Assembly in New York", and that he hoped that the implementation of the agreement would be possible in October.

The initiative to unfreeze the deal was supported by 25 EU member states, but it was blocked by Holland, which is still unsatisfied with Belgrade's cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

Only the arrest of Ratko Mladić and his extradition will be considered "full cooperation", it was said in Brussels this Monday.

Belgium supported this position as well, reports specify.

The agreement in question is a part of the SAA, suspended immediately after the signing in April, pending Belgrade's full cooperation with the UN war crimes court located in The Hague.

Earlier in the day reports suggested that Brammertz's opinion would be crucial as EU foreign minister consider whether to allow the deal to go ahead.

But Deputy Premier Božidar Đelić was not an optimist this morning: "The latest information is not favorable," he told Tanjug news agency.

According to Đelić, a negative decision would do Serbia an "injustice". He also added that the government will "struggle until the last moment for this not to happen".

"It wouldn't be the first, and likely not the last injustice, but that's no reason to change the strategic course of our country," he said, and explained that he meant speedy joining of the EU, defense of territorial integrity and fight against corruption.

At the same time, observers said that should the Brammertz opinion after his visit to Belgrade last week be positive, it could be a key argument against Holland's firm position that there is no full cooperation yet.

Verhagen said ahead of the meeting that the arrest of Karadžić, while undoubtedly an important move on the part of Serbia, "still does not represent full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal".

He received the backing of his British counterpart David Miliband for this, who said last week he would "not take part in pressures on Holland" to change this position.

On the other hand, most EU member states and some officials such as Jose Manuel Barroso, Javier Solana, Olli Rehn and Bernard Kouchner, who presided over the meeting today, believed the agreement should have been allowed to come into force.

Yesterday, Austria's Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik hinted in a statement that this issue will not be given much time by the EU ministers today, because of a full agenda.

That agenda, according to Plassnik, will include attempts to reach a common EU position on Serbia's initiative to ask the International Court of Justice about the legality of Kosovo Albanians' unilateral declaration of independence.

"Do it unilaterally"

European Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said on Monday in Brussels after the European Union Council of Ministers did not decide to unfreeze the Interim Agreement with Serbia that Belgrade should start implementing that agreement, as well as the Stabilization and Association Agreement, "unilaterally".

"The Serbian government should unilaterally start implementing the provisions of both agreements," he told the press after the EU session at which no consensus was reached to give a green light to implementation.

"Most of the provisions can be implemented unilaterally. If Serbia starts to do so soon, it will prove its capability to implement the agreements properly and thus accelerate its integration in the EU," Rehn said.