EU vesoepelt beleid ten aanzien van Servische oorlogmisdaden (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The EU on Monday (12 February) gave its clearest signal yet that it is ready to restart integration talks with Serbia before Belgrade hands over top war crimes fugitives such as Ratko Mladic.

"Serbia remains welcome to join the EU" the foreign ministers' statement said, adding the EU will restart talks if the "new government" in Belgrade takes "concrete and effective action for full cooperation" with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Spelling out the meaning, enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said putting Mr Mladic on trial "remains a necessary condition to sign, i.e. to conclude, an [EU integration] agreement with Serbia" but that talks could reopen while he is at large.

The positive message represents success for an Austria-led group of EU states also involving Italy, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech republic and Slovenia in what is becoming known as the "Hapsburg camp" by EU officials.

"For us it is clear Serbia needs a positive signal. They have lost so much already," a Slovenian diplomat said, with the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK - who had previously opposed any softening of the EU line on Mladic - also getting on board.

"If they end up taking all the steps that they can to deliver Mladic, but they don't end up delivering him, maybe they shouldn't be punished," a British diplomat said, even though it remains unclear what the "concrete and effective action" demanded from Belgrade would be.

Failure to hand over Mr Mladic - who has been on the run for over 12 years - led to the suspension of EU integration talks last May, after UN prosecutor Carla del Ponte accused Belgrade of fudging the probe into his whereabouts.

"Ms Del Ponte is still saying that these people must be brought to The Hague," her spokeswoman said on Monday, showing concern. "There should be nothing which makes these people believe they can escape justice simply by waiting it out."

Belgrade is expected to form a new government no later than 31 March when the current national budget expires, while the Serb parliament on Wednesday is set to give acting leaders powers to negotiate the future of Kosovo's status.

The EU-integration question and the Kosovo status issue have become intertwined in EU thinking, with the Hapsburg camp arguing that an EU-integration gift could help Serbia swallow a UN blueprint for putting Kosovo on the road to independence.

Unity on Kosovo?

UN envoy Martti Ahtisaari on Monday briefed Brussels on progress in Kosovo talks so far, amid mounting tension in the region and ahead of UN-led negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade on 21 February in Vienna.

EU ministers voiced "full support" for Mr Ahtisaari's "efforts in conducting the political process to determine Kosovo's future status" and added that "the final decision on the status of Kosovo should be endorsed by the UN security council."

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier added that it is "more likely" the UN will have to impose a solution on Kosovo than that Belgrade and Pristina will find a compromise between themselves.

The remarks come one day after Kosovo Albanian frustration with delays on the status process boiled over into violence in Pristina, with protests organised by hardline campaigner Albin Kurti leading to two deaths and 70 injuries.

The rally saw 3,000 people take to the streets, whereas Mr Kurti's gatherings had in the past attracted just 200 to 300 people. "Reading the news on Kosovo this weekend, I am getting a bit worried," a Finnish diplomat said.

Mr Ahtisaari's spokesman, Remi Dourlot, played down the event, saying "the violence was extremely regrettable, but...the good thing is that everybody condemned this, not just the international authorities but the local government as well."

He urged the EU to "clearly show there is a united position on the [Kosovo] proposal" in comments later echoed by French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, who said "I would like to stress that we have to stay united."

The EU does face division in the Kosovo status area, with Spain worried about the implications for separatist groups inside its territory and Slovenia concerned about Serbian stability if the country is forced to give away too much.

But European diplomats said any EU malcontents are keeping quiet on Kosovo at all costs, with Europe's deep divisions over how to handle the Balkan wars in the 1990s seen as a historic warning for today.

Russia and China could join forces

Russia - which has said it will veto any UN plan that is not acceptable to Belgrade - is playing on the EU divisions however, as well as trying to gain the support of UN veto power China for its pro-Serbia stance.

Moscow's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, last week mentioned Spain's separatist Catalonia and Basque regions as well as North Cyprus and Taiwan as areas that could be impacted by any Kosovo deal.

Taiwan began the process of breaking away from China in 1945, with Chinese diplomats not keen to talk about the region in the context of Kosovo when questioned by EUobserver on Monday.

"China respects the sovereignty of Serbia and respects the choice of the Serbian people. We maintain that any solution to the issue should be conducive to the peace and stability of the region," a Chinese diplomat said, recalling the Russian line.