The EU's Free Pass for Serbia
October 10, 2007
In his Oct. 3 op-ed, "Wag the EU," Borut Grgic correctly states that the European Union's overly solicitous approach to Serbia, which apparently aims to join the EU on its own terms, has reduced its credibility as a serious policy actor.
Most EU members seem unwilling to be bound by their own articulated conditions on Serbia, the most proximate of which is Belgrade's unfulfilled obligation to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague. This requires the arrest and transfer of the two most senior indictees, Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic and political leader Radovan Karadzic, who are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity for their roles in the Srebrenica massacre of 1995. Both are believed to be in Serbia now, and government denials at earlier deadlines subsequently have proved false.
The EU long ago set the condition of full compliance with the ICTY as essential for Serbia to continue advancing toward eventual membership. A number of EU member states -- most notably Italy and Sweden, with Germany's tacit backing -- call for fast-tracking Serbia's EU membership unconditionally, in the vain hope that this will assist on Kosovo. Should these countries win the argument within the EU, allowing Serbia to move closer to accession before these men are in custody and awaiting trial, they will deepen the sense that the EU's conditions are no more than a negotiable wish list.
The leverage afforded by the EU's capacity to be gatekeeper to its own club has yet to be employed in service of promoting progressive politics in Serbia, rather than appeasing retrograde figures such as nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. As long as this is so, Balkan politicians like Mr. Kostunica will continue to play the EU for suckers, and benefit.
Kurt Bassuener
Senior Associate
Democratization Policy Council
Sarajevo
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