poiuytrewq0987
09-28-2011, 12:24 AM
(Reuters) - The European Commission wants to offer Serbia the status of EU membership candidate in October but will recommend entry talks are postponed until Belgrade improves its relations with Kosovo, EU diplomats said on Tuesday.
In its annual report on countries aspiring to join the bloc, due next month, the European Union executive will want to reward Serbia for bringing remaining war crimes fugitives to justice this year, they said.
It will also want to recognize efforts Belgrade has made in reforming state institutions and combating corruption and crime, seen as important steps toward ensuring Balkan states such as Serbia are ready for the EU.
But concerns over tensions with Kosovo, Serbia's former province, mean the EU is not ready to launch actual membership negotiations, a process likely to take years before Serbia can become a member.
"It's quite sure, the Commission will recommend candidate status for Serbia but set conditions for opening negotiations," an EU diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The former Yugoslav state applied to join the EU in 2009 but struggled to make progress in its bid because of its failure, until this year, to apprehend fugitives wanted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal.
It caught Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of instigating ethnic cleansing during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, in May, and apprehended Croat Serb leader Goran Hadzic in July, after both spent years in hiding.
Many EU capitals saw their capture as crucial to settling the legacy of Balkan wars that have crippled the region economically and delayed democratic transition from communism.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-eu-serbia-idUSTRE78Q5I420110927
In its annual report on countries aspiring to join the bloc, due next month, the European Union executive will want to reward Serbia for bringing remaining war crimes fugitives to justice this year, they said.
It will also want to recognize efforts Belgrade has made in reforming state institutions and combating corruption and crime, seen as important steps toward ensuring Balkan states such as Serbia are ready for the EU.
But concerns over tensions with Kosovo, Serbia's former province, mean the EU is not ready to launch actual membership negotiations, a process likely to take years before Serbia can become a member.
"It's quite sure, the Commission will recommend candidate status for Serbia but set conditions for opening negotiations," an EU diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The former Yugoslav state applied to join the EU in 2009 but struggled to make progress in its bid because of its failure, until this year, to apprehend fugitives wanted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal.
It caught Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of instigating ethnic cleansing during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, in May, and apprehended Croat Serb leader Goran Hadzic in July, after both spent years in hiding.
Many EU capitals saw their capture as crucial to settling the legacy of Balkan wars that have crippled the region economically and delayed democratic transition from communism.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-eu-serbia-idUSTRE78Q5I420110927