| Candidacy application in mid-December? |
| 20 November 2009 | 11:07
| Source:
FoNet, Blic |
BELGRADE --
Serbia is planning to submit its EU candidacy after the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers on December 10.
This is when the Interim Trade Agreement, a part of the suspended SAA between Belgrade and Brussels, is expected to be unfrozen, Belgrade daily Blic writes.
The newspaper adds that it is the government’s opinion that the Hague Tribunal Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s report, which is stating that he is satisfied with Serbia’s cooperation with the tribunal, "will likely suffice to unfreeze the Interim Trade Agreement at the EU Council of Ministers on December 2".
The daily has learned from the government that Serbia is planning to submit its EU membership candidacy just several days after the meeting, in mid-December.
“Chances are that the Netherlands, the last member of the EU which is opposing the unblocking of the Interim Trade Agreement, will agree to unfreeze it and that the EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will propose the unfreezing on December 10,” a source from the top of the government was quoted as saying.
"Naturally, at this point no one can guarantee what will be the Netherlands' final decision because it has the right to make sovereign decisions, but it will be hard to say ‘no’ after the Brammertz report," the article continued.
The same source stated that the unfreezing of the trade deal "would be enough to submit the candidacy".
“We do not expect that the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) will be ratified straight away, but our goal is to start ratification simultaneously with the unfreezing of the Interim Agreement.”
According to this, it is expected that th EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will argue that “Serbia is doing everything in its power to complete the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and that it is nothing less than full cooperation.”
If the decision of the Council of Ministers should be as favorable as is expected, Serbian President Boris Tadić will submit Serbia’s request for the candidacy in the EU "on the first free day on the agenda of the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt".
Meanwhile, Dutch Ambassador to Serbia Ron van Dartel stated on Thursday that he expected Holland to announce its position “very soon after December 3", and the presentation of the Hague chief prosecutor’s report to the UN Security Council.
He pointed out that his country has insisted on the two remaining Hague fugitives being arrested, and that this position would not be abandoned.
The Dutch ambassador reminded of the words of his foreign minister, Maxime Verhagen, that he would be “strict but fair” and that the progress in the cooperation between Serbia and the EU was noticeable.
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