Serbia officially submits EU membership application
Pastor Dale Morgan
Serbia officially submits EU membership application*
AFP - Wednesday, December 23
[Serbian President Boris Tadic gives a press conference at the European
headquarters in Brussels in...] Serbian President Boris Tadic gives a
press conference at the European headquarters in Brussels in November.
Serbia has officially submitted its application for membership of the
European Union to the Swedish EU presidency.
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - – Serbia on Tuesday officially submitted its European
Union membership application to the Swedish EU presidency in Stockholm.
Serb President Boris Tadic handed over the application to Swedish Prime
Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in a brief ceremony at the prime minister's
office.
The two were to hold a press conference shortly afterwards.
The largest republic of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia, still scarred by
the wars of the 1990s, faces a long and bumpy road ahead to join the
club. The entry date is expected some time between 2014 and 2018.
Support for Belgrade's bid is mixed at best, according to a European
diplomat, with backing from Greece and Italy but several key members --
including Britain and the Netherlands -- are more reserved.
Among the obstacles to Belgrade's EU bid are the issue of Kosovo's
status and Serb authorities' failure to track down the Bosnian Serb
wartime military chief Ratko Mladic.
Mladic is wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, accused of genocide, and cooperation with The Hague-based
tribunal is seen as key to building deeper trust with Serbia's
prospective EU partners.
The failure to track down the military chief -- accused of playing a
part in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 -- prompted the Netherlands to
block a key trade accord which was a step on the path to EU membership.
It only recently reversed this decision.
Meanwhile, Belgrade still officially considers Kosovo its southern
province, but the territory's unilateral declaration of independence has
been recognised by all but five EU member states.