Referring to the recent arrest of war criminal Ratko Mladic, he said that it was now time for everybody to be honest, that the arrest had been Serbia’s moral obligation, but was also a condition for European integration. Therefore, now that Serbia had done what was asked of it, the EU should do the same, but would it?
In recent times Serbia has made great strides in improving its somewhat former negative image as an unconstructive and difficult country. It has set out to be an example to others in the region and help progress reconciliation. Tadic presented Serbia as a country on the move -- shifting away from its troubled past and heading to a bright future as a reliable partner and regional power. Belgrade is cracking down on its systemic corruption and criminal gangs, carrying out reforms to meet EU criteria and cleaning up the business environment in order to attract more foreign investment. President Tadic described Serbia as the most eastern part of the West and the most western part of the East. This made me smile because this phrase is usually coined by Turks and Azerbaijanis. I am not sure whether it really applies to Serbia but still there can be no doubt that Serbia is the key to regional stability.
With the capture Mladic and his extradition to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Serbia is turning a new page in its history and the arrest marked an important step in a process of seeking justice for the crimes committed during the Balkans wars. Furthermore, the arrest was also one of the pre-conditions for progress in membership talks with the EU. It is a significant achievement, yet the road ahead is still far from easy.
Frankly, you cannot row a boat with only one oar and the EU also needs to play fair with Serbia and show the necessary political will to push things forward. The ICTY will shortly issue its opinion on Serbia’s cooperation, which will be followed by the European Commission’s opinion on Belgrade’s application for membership in November. A decision is expected by the end of the year, before the next elections in Serbia. However, enlargement fatigue, the euro-crisis and visionless leaders continue to hobble the EU. For example, the Netherlands has been quite tough on Serbia vis-à-vis its compliance with the ICTY. While Mladic may now be behind bars, the Netherlands is demanding that Belgrade deliver the fugitive Goran Hadzic. Hadzic is an ethnic Serb from Croatia and former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the war in Croatia. He has been indicted for war crimes including for atrocities in Vukovar. After Mladic, he is the last remaining fugitive requested by the ICTY. Until Serbia captures him, the Netherlands is refusing to ratify the Association and Stabilization Agreement (SAA) that Belgrade has with the EU. Presently 18 out of the 27 member states have ratified. Ratification and implementation by all 27 is necessary before Serbia may open membership talks with the EU. Nevertheless Serbia is hoping to begin membership talks early in 2012. Tadic said that the EU “should keep its word.” However, based on Turkey’s experience he may be disappointed.
There also remains the sensitive issue of Kosovo. Serbia is currently part of EU-mediated talks with Pristina and Tadic seemed optimistic that there would be some positive results in the coming weeks. However, he underscored again that he, as president, would neither implicitly nor explicitly recognize Kosovo. He stressed this is a red line that Serbia will never cross under any conditions. He also said that he was aware that were some in the EU who desired to put Serbia in a position where recognition of Kosovo could be used as a trade-off for EU membership. This is a non-starter. It’s also worth remembering that there are five member states that still do not recognize Kosovo.
When I asked the president about the role of Turkey in the region he was extremely complimentary, saying that for Serbia Turkey was a crucial partner with whom Belgrade has had excellent relations. Moreover, he supported a greater role for Turkey and that Ankara had a particularly important influence in countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania. He also diplomatically pointed out that the EU should think carefully about the crucial role Turkey plays, not only in the Western Balkans, but in many of its other neighborhoods -- both economically and politically -- when considering Turkish membership in the EU.
Serbia is showing itself to be a diligent student and this effort needs to be positively embraced by the EU. The reunification of Europe cannot be completed until the Western Balkans are fit into the puzzle. Let’s hope its sooner rather than later.
