EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has said that Belgrade has until 27 February to arrest war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, B92 and Beta reported on 23 February. If Mladic is not apprehended by that date, Rehn said he will recommend to the EU Council of Ministers that all negotiations with Serbia and Montenegro for a Stabilization and Association Agreement be suspended indefinitely. "I hope that Serbia will be able to complete its full cooperation and that we will not have to end the discussions," Rehn said. "It is up to Serbia to decide between its European future and its nationalistic past," he added. BW 

Published in: EU Gives Serbia and Montenegro Firm Deadline on Mladic, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 24 February 2006.

EU Officials Back Off Deadline for Serbia on Mladic
The European Union will stop short of cutting off talks with Serbia and Montenegro on 27 February, and instead will issue a stern rebuke to Belgrade for not arresting war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, Reuters reported. "We are not going to give an ultimatum. That is not the right way," Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said as EU foreign ministers met in Brussels. Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot also rejected the idea of setting a deadline for Serbia to arrest Mladic. EU officials earlier hinted strongly that talks on a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Belgrade, which began in November, could be suspended if Mladic was not arrested (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 17, 21, and 24 February 2006). BW

Published in: EU Officials Back Off Deadline for Serbia on Mladic, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 27 February 2006.

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