Rehn: EU may reopen talks with Serbia

Rehn: EU may reopen talks with Serbia

Beta agency quoted its diplomatic sources in Brussels saying that the final decision regarding the resumption of SAA talks might also depend on the upcoming visit of Chief Hague Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte to Belgrade on June 4.

The same sources said the decision might be passed at the EU foreign policy chiefs’ meeting in Brussels due to take place in mid-June.

UK daily The Financial Times said on Wednesday that Rehn’s is highly likely to tell his European Commission colleagues and EU ambassadors in Brussels that the new Serbian government has given credible undertakings that it will do more to hunt down indicted war criminals - a prerequisite of the talks to resume.

According to the UK daily, Serbia's stalled talks on closer ties with the European Union could be unblocked within days, in a sign the EU wants to do business with Belgrade's new pro-reform coalition.

Rehn said a statement by the government gave a clear sign it would work more closely with The Hague, and was enough to resume talks on its Stabilization and Association Agreement with the EU.

"The new government in Serbia has done and is doing the right things to enable us to resume SAA negotiations very soon," Rehn told the Financial Times.

Many EU officials are eager to offer an olive branch to Belgrade at a time when the US and the EU are struggling to win sufficient backing in the United Nations Security Council for a plan to put the province of Kosovo on the path to statehood, the newspaper says.

Đelić: Serbian government more than satisfied

Deputy prime minister for European Integration Božidar Đelić says he is satisfied with the announcements that EU-Serbia talks may soon resume.

However, he warns that the final decision will depend on Chief Hague Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte’s evaluation.

“I am convinced that the government will do everything to restart the SAA talks in the shortest period of time, as we are more than pleased with the EU move” he said, adding that the new cabinet had to be on alert and continue its work.

“Rehn’s gesture expected”

South-Eastern Europe Stability Pact official Goran Svilanović told B92 that the news from Brussels was expected, and should not necessarily be linked with the process of Kosovo’s status settlement.

“Formal announcement of the decision to resume the SAA talks with Serbia was expected to occur by Friday. In that sense, Rehn has made the proposal which, in my opinion, will be accepted, since the advancement on the path towards the EU is the only way in which Serbia might overcome its problems,” Svilanović said.

“The European Union first waited for the new government, then announced its willingness to resume the talks and then waited to see whether it could expect serious commitment from Serbia’s security services [concerning the Hague Tribunal],” he explained.

When asked whether the decision to resume the talks should be regarded in light of the Kosovo issue, Svilanović replied that the parallel could be drawn on a broader plan.

“However, this gesture should be seen as proof that the EU cannot put everything on ice because of Kosovo,” Svilanović concluded.