EU: no decision yet on Serbia trade despite arrest
By David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS, July 23 (Reuters) - The EU said on Wednesday unfreezing trade benefits for Serbia would have to wait until a U.N. prosecutor decides if it is cooperating fully in catching war crimes suspects, despite Radovan Karadzic's arrest.
On Tuesday European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called on the bloc to allow Serbia improved trading conditions following Monday's arrest of the wartime Bosnian Serb leader.
EU foreign ministers called the arrest a milestone on Serbia's road to joining the EU, but several stressed Karadzic's wartime military commander, Ratko Mladic, also wanted for genocide, was still at large and said Belgrade must go further to reap full benefits.
Officials from the 27 EU states agreed on Wednesday to wait before deciding on whether to unfreeze trade benefits until a report by Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia, diplomats said.
"We need unanimity on whether cooperation is full and we need to hear Brammertz's view on whether there is full cooperation. Then we will take a decision," said one diplomat, adding that it was not clear when Brammertz would give his view.
Given the arrest had happened so recently, EU states were still looking for more signs, diplomats said.
"Karadzic was arrested two days ago -- he still needs to be transferred to the Hague, for example," said another diplomat, adding that EU officials were expected to discuss the issue again next Tuesday.
Karadzic and Mladic were indicted for genocide over the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which some 8,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslim males were murdered and bulldozed into mass graves.
The EU signed a long-delayed Stabilisation and Association (SAA) pact with Serbia in April but vowed not to ratify it or unlock its trade benefits until all member states agreed that Belgrade was complying fully with the Hague tribunal.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the arrest of the man wanted for planning and ordering Europe's worst atrocities since World War Two showed Belgrade was willing to cooperate.
Rehn said on Tuesday it was time to offer Belgrade an economic boost by implementing an interim agreement covering trade-related parts of the SAA. The full SAA is the first step to ultimate membership of the bloc.
In a statement after Tuesday's ministerial the EU states reaffirmed statements that Serbia could still "accelerate its progress towards the EU" but gave no timeframe for winning candidate status -- the next rung on the ladder which Belgrade wants to secure as early as the end of this year.
EU-Serbia ties are further complicated by the standoff over Kosovo, whose Western-backed secession in February was opposed by Serbian politicians across the spectrum. (Edited by Richard Meares)
BRUSSELS, July 23 (Reuters) - The EU said on Wednesday unfreezing trade benefits for Serbia would have to wait until a U.N. prosecutor decides if it is cooperating fully in catching war crimes suspects, despite Radovan Karadzic's arrest.
On Tuesday European Union Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called on the bloc to allow Serbia improved trading conditions following Monday's arrest of the wartime Bosnian Serb leader.
EU foreign ministers called the arrest a milestone on Serbia's road to joining the EU, but several stressed Karadzic's wartime military commander, Ratko Mladic, also wanted for genocide, was still at large and said Belgrade must go further to reap full benefits.
Officials from the 27 EU states agreed on Wednesday to wait before deciding on whether to unfreeze trade benefits until a report by Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia, diplomats said.
"We need unanimity on whether cooperation is full and we need to hear Brammertz's view on whether there is full cooperation. Then we will take a decision," said one diplomat, adding that it was not clear when Brammertz would give his view.
Given the arrest had happened so recently, EU states were still looking for more signs, diplomats said.
"Karadzic was arrested two days ago -- he still needs to be transferred to the Hague, for example," said another diplomat, adding that EU officials were expected to discuss the issue again next Tuesday.
Karadzic and Mladic were indicted for genocide over the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which some 8,000 unarmed Bosnian Muslim males were murdered and bulldozed into mass graves.
The EU signed a long-delayed Stabilisation and Association (SAA) pact with Serbia in April but vowed not to ratify it or unlock its trade benefits until all member states agreed that Belgrade was complying fully with the Hague tribunal.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the arrest of the man wanted for planning and ordering Europe's worst atrocities since World War Two showed Belgrade was willing to cooperate.
Rehn said on Tuesday it was time to offer Belgrade an economic boost by implementing an interim agreement covering trade-related parts of the SAA. The full SAA is the first step to ultimate membership of the bloc.
In a statement after Tuesday's ministerial the EU states reaffirmed statements that Serbia could still "accelerate its progress towards the EU" but gave no timeframe for winning candidate status -- the next rung on the ladder which Belgrade wants to secure as early as the end of this year.
EU-Serbia ties are further complicated by the standoff over Kosovo, whose Western-backed secession in February was opposed by Serbian politicians across the spectrum. (Edited by Richard Meares)
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