What did Baroness Ashton promise Tadic?

ZELJKO PANTELIC

14.09.2010 @ 09:07 CET

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton made a set of promises to Serbian President Boris Tadic in return for his concessions on Kosovo, different sources have told WAZ.EUobserver.

The discussions took place during the night of the agreement on the UN resolution on the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Mrs Ashton did not promise that the EU would start the process to ensure candidate status for Serbia quickly, said one source, noting that this promise could not be made as it is up to all member states to agree unanimously on issues concerning enlargement.

"However, it is true that Lady Ashton gave guarantees to President Tadic that she will be committed to dealing with the Serbian application for EU membership that has been in the box from December last year," said the same source.

EU foreign ministers also gave positive signals during their meeting on Monday (13 September). They agreed to put the Serbian EU application on the agenda during their October meeting, the earliest date that they can forward Serbia's application to the European Commission.

Despite the good intentions of the British Baroness - as well as the signs of improved relations between Belgrade and the most important EU countries, strained in recent months because of the Serbian policy on Kosovo - it is not guaranteed that member states will quickly forward the Serbian application for candidate status to the European Commission to prepare its opinion on the matter. The opinion or avis is the first step in the procedure for granting candidate status for EU membership.

"It is useless to make anything without Holland on board because the key to faster Serbian European integration is in the hands of The Hague," a diplomat from one of the main EU countries told WAZ.EUobserver.

"Of course, if Serbia arrests [war crimes suspect] Ratko Mladic then everything will be easier. Kosovo is not 'a launch ramp' for accelerating the pace of Serbia towards the EU. On the contrary, Serbia can only get herself in trouble if she is not constructive on Kosovo. The real, and so far the only, means for Serbia to go more rapidly towards the EU is the arrest of Ratko Mladic," the source continued.

On Monday things were looking promising, the Netherlands apparently signaled its good intentions, but with no new government in place it is difficult to predict its next move.

The Dutch have indicated on several occasions (such as in the case of the agreement between the EU and Serbia on Eulex, the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo) that for them only the arrest of Mladic means that Serbia has done its duty.

However, there are positive elements in the agreement on Kosovo for Serbian European integration. In the past few months, the friends of Serbia in the EU - such as Spain, Italy and Greece - tried to open the door to Serbian application without success. Now Baroness Ashton as well as German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle are working on an EU consensus on Serbia.

"Besides that, the United Kingdom indicated its willingness to pass the Serbian application to the Commission if Belgrade opens dialogue with Pristina in the near future. With London, Berlin, Mrs Ashton and the positive report about Serbian cooperation with ICTY by the [UN] chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz, there is big chance to see the Serbian application passed to the Commission before the end of the year, " said an European diplomat.

For Serbian President Tadic and his ruling coalition in Belgrade it is crucial that the procedure for candidate status be opened this year, with parliamentary elections to be held in the spring of 2012.

President Tadic and his advisers have explained to European partners that time is running out and there is a serious risk the the pro-European government in Belgrade will stand before elections in 2012 without any tangible results in European integration. It normally takes at one year to go through the procedure of granting candidate status.

"The message of President Tadic's team to the EU was very simple: If you want to have a pro-European government in Belgrade in the future - constructive on the Kosovo issue - you should help us to achieve candidate status before elections," said a source in the EU institutions.

http://waz.euobserver.com/887/30792