Nieuwe Servische regering weigert medewerking Joegoslavië-tribunaal en wenst opdeling Kosovo (en)

Lacklustre attempts to extradite suspected war criminals and a threat to partition Kosovo are putting Serbia back out in to the diplomatic cold.

Even in its short time in office, the policies of the new Serbian government threaten to rupture relations with the European Union.

Presenting his government to Parliament yesterday, prime minister-designate Vojislav Kostunica signalled a reluctance to cooperate with the war crimes tribunal in The Hague and said that Kosovo should be split up.

A nationalist, Mr Kostunica's coalition relies on support from the party nominally led by the indicted war criminal Slobodan Milosevic, furthering any hard line tendencies which may have existed.

The former president told MPs that the only way to protect the Serbian minority in Kosovo was for the "territorial autonomy, partition of Kosovo into entities or cantonisation".

Kosovo is currently under the control of the international community although legally it is still a part of Serbia.

The European Union, has pressed for human rights and legal standards to be put in place in Kosovo before any status is set.

ICTY

The Serbian news agency Tanjug reports that Mr Kostunica also advocates "loosening the Hague [war crimes tribunal's] noose at least a little".

He is also backing an increased role of Serbian courts and has pledged for the government to fund Mr Milosevic's defence.

"We'll do everything to speed war crimes trials before domestic courts and seek help for the defence of indictees", Mr Kostunica said.

According to the same report, Mr Kostunica said that cooperation with the International Tribunal would be somewhere between refusal to cooperate and a subservient attitude of local institutions towards the tribunal.

The EU has repeatedly pressed for full and complete cooperation with the Tribunal in The Hague in return for further ties with Brussels.