Foreign ministers plot a new course for Serbia

The EU appears ready to relax its preconditions for Serbia to restart talks about EU membership. EU diplomats said the bloc wanted to send a message to the Serbian authorities that Belgrade’s future lay in the EU, after elections on 21 January put ultranationalists in first place, but unable to form a government.

Talks on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) - a key stepping-stone towards EU membership - were suspended in May 2006 because of Serbia’s failure to apprehend wartime General Radko Mladic.

Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign ministers on Monday (22 January), Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said that the EU would likely restart talks after a new Serbian government took office.

"I guess, now, that SAA negotiations will continue," he said, adding that he did not think that the EU would "ask for Mladic to be brought to Brussels in chains" before restarting negotiations.

He said: "Some tough conditions should be postponed until the moment when negotiations are at the end, not now when they have just started."

Rupel also echoed comments by Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who hinted that full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) did not necessarily mean capturing Mladic.

"What we need is some sort of plan to prove full compliance, to prove co-operation with ICTY," Rupel said.

The EU ministers welcomed the results of the Serbian elections and urged pro-EU parties to form a government as soon as possible.

They sought to play down the emergence of the hard-line Radical Party as the biggest winner in the election.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after the meeting: "The radicals got most votes but nevertheless two-thirds of the seats in parliament will go to democratic forces."

Diplomats added that all member states had agreed on the need to send Serbia a political signal after the vote.

"Serbia’s supporters want to open the door a little more," said one diplomat familiar with the discussions leading up to that meeting.

Diplomats said Greece and Italy pushed for Serbia to move rapidly towards EU membership, while the Netherlands and Finland continued to insist on full co-operation with the ICTY before restarting SAA talks.

France and the Netherlands in particular remain concerned about rapid moves toward further EU enlargement.

But long-anticipated proposals on Kosovo’s final status are also influencing the debate.

Diplomats said fears that Serbia might become estranged from the EU when conditional independence is proposed early next month, have influenced the UK and France’s decision to soften their objections to restarting talks.

"Of course France is still sceptical about anything that hints at further enlargement, but there is a realisation that we need to send Serbia a signal," said one official.

"If you have open communications between the European institutions and the government, it might be easier to find solutions to the Kosovo problem," said Rupel.

"It looks as if Ahtisaari is going to propose some kind of conditional independence. This may be unpleasant words for the Serbs but on the other hand if we find a solution to both Kosovo and Serbia in the context of a European perspective, then the situation might become more tempting."

Foreign ministers will discuss the question of restarting talks with Serbia when they meet on 12 February.

Kosovo timeline

• 1989 - Yugoslav President Slobodan Miloöevic introduces emergency laws which curb Kosovo’s long-held autonomy. A purge of Albanians from Yugoslav institutions begins

• September 1991 - Kosovo Albanians declare independence

• 1997 - After years of tension, fighting breaks out between the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serb police

• March 1999 - NATO brokers the Rambouillet Accords aimed at restoring self-government to Kosovo. The accords are rejected by Miloöevic, NATO begins bombing Yugoslavia

• 10 June 1999 - United Nations Security Council 1244 establishes Kosovo as an international protectorate under UN supervision. The EU is called on to lead reconstruction and efforts to develop Kosovo’s economy

• April 2002 - The UN mission to Kosovo defines its ‘standards before status’ policy toward Kosovo, meaning there will be no moves toward independence before international standards are met

• March 2004 - Persistent tensions between Albanians and Serbs spark clashes across Kosovo, including two days of riots that injure 800

• 23 October 2004 - Kosovo elections are boycotted by Serbs after pressure from Belgrade

• 14 November 2005 - Former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari is appointed as special envoy to the secretary-general of the UN. He is asked to hold talks between Kosovo and Serbia’s leaders to find a solution to Kosovo’s final status

• 21 January 2007 - Serbia holds general elections. The hard-line nationalist Radicals emerge as the biggest party, but pro-EU parties gather enough votes to establish a coalition government

• 2 February 2007 - UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari is expected to present his proposals on Kosovo’s final status

• Sources - BBC, CNN, European Commission, International Crisis Group, NATO and the United Nations.

The EU appears ready to relax its preconditions for Serbia to restart talks about EU membership. EU diplomats said the bloc wanted to send a message to the Serbian authorities that Belgrade’s future lay in the EU, after elections on 21 January put ultranationalists in first place, but unable to form a government.