Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-01-18-Speech-2-008-000"
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"en.20110118.3.2-008-000"2
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"Madam President, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement between the European Union and Serbia was signed in April 2008, and the transitional, interim trade agreement with Serbia has been successfully implemented since February 2010.
On 1 January 2011, Serbia abolished compulsory military service, and generations of young Serbian citizens have been given an additional opportunity to learn, study and develop. Civilian supervision of the armed forces has also been strengthened.
On the other hand, Serbia’s advancement towards the EU has very much been hampered by the fact that two individuals indicted for war crimes by the ICTY remain at large.
Ratko Mladić has been on the run for more than 15 years since the genocide in Srebrenica, that greatest of crimes perpetrated on European soil since World War II.
We welcome the statement of the Serbian Government that they consider the finalisation of their cooperation with the Hague Tribunal to be a priority. However, we call on the Serbian authorities, as the main ICTY prosecutor has said, to reduce convincingly the gap between the political will they have shown and concrete results.
The time has come for Serbia to close this painful chapter and to make a new step towards reconciliation in the region.
Serbia will not be able to secure candidate status until it demonstrates that it is fully cooperating with the Hague Tribunal, as stated in the Council conclusions of 25 October 2010.
The most compelling evidence of this would be the arrests and extradition of those who have been indicted. Serbia’s efforts to date to bring this about have not produced results and they remain inadequate.
Significant shifts in regional relations in the Western Balkans, evidenced most of all by the relationship between Serbia and Croatia, have been achieved. We welcome the stance of the Serbian President, whose new approach has given a powerful impetus to a lasting reconciliation in the region.
Despite that, there are still further challenges. Belgrade must demonstrate a constructive relationship in the upcoming dialogue with Priština and, regardless of the issue of Kosovo’s status, the relationship between Belgrade and Priština must become a partnership, so that the whole region is more easily able to progress towards Europe.
This also holds true for Serbia’s relations with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Belgrade needs to support the reforms that will enable Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a country with its own institutions, to negotiate on its membership of the European Union. At the moment, that is still not the case.
The ratification process began in September 2008 when the Serbian Parliament first ratified this agreement.
The agreement provides a political, legal and economic framework for cooperation between the European Union and Serbia, and Serbia was unable to continue along the path of European integration without the ratification process getting under way.
In 2009, there were no reports of Serbia on the European Parliament’s agenda because the ratification process in the Member States stalled following Serbia’s failure to cooperate fully with the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). To date, eleven Member States have ratified this agreement, which is why, today, I call on the remaining Member States to do the same as soon as possible.
If, today, we ratify the agreement in this higher assembly, we will be sending a strong and visible message of support for Serbia’s European efforts. That alone, however, will not ensure a successful completion of the ratification process.
The resolution on Serbia, on which we will be voting tomorrow, carries precisely this message of support. We need to support Serbia along its long and difficult path to membership of the European Union.
As a country which has long been isolated and which has remained outside the modern tide of European politics and economy, Serbia is facing many challenges.
In the past two years, we have witnessed the political scene in Serbia becoming more pro-European. Serbian leaders will provide us with the best evidence of their sincere commitment to European values and way of life if they successfully resolve problems and implement all the reforms that are necessary.
We have already seen some positive developments. We have sincerely welcomed Serbia’s willingness to compromise and the adoption by the UN General Assembly of a joint resolution on Kosovo in September 2010."@en1
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