BRUSSELS – Serbia is likely to apply this year to join the European Union, foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said yesterday after meeting enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn.
“We believe that the basic groundwork has been laid out to submit the application to the EU. We have a strong intention to do it before the end of this year,” he told a news conference.
Mr Rehn said Serbia must first show it was co-operating fully with the UN war crimes court.
It has been applauded for arresting Radovan Karadzic, who had been in hiding in Belgrade, and handing him over to the tribunal. But some diplomats say it will not be deemed to be co-operating fully until it catches military commander Ratko Mladic.
Of the former Yugoslav republics, only Slovenia has so far joined the EU. Croatia hopes to complete membership talks in 2010 and join by 2012. – (Reuters)