EU president Slovenia cast doubt today on the viability of a Dutch-Belgian proposal that makes implementation of a planned pact on closer bloc ties with Serbia subject to Belgrade getting tough on war criminals.
Under the proposal, made last week, the European Union would sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Belgrade on June 16th, after an election in Serbia on May 11th that could decide the country's future relations with the bloc.
But the deal, the first step towards EU membership, would come into force only when Belgrade acted on war criminals.
Speaking in Luxembourg where EU foreign ministers will discuss the issue tomorrow, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said he had just spoken to Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and termed the situation "complicated".
"We try to find a solution to sign the SAA, but it's not easy," Mr Rupel told reporters, adding it would not be possible to alter an already initialled version of the SAA as there was no full government in place in Belgrade with the power to sign it.
"To reopen the SAA and to find a new solution, that would bring too many complications," Mr Rupel said. "We can say it, we can find a text that would bring the same message, but I don't think we should reopen the SAA."
Mr Rupel said he and most of his EU colleagues favoured signing the agreement with Serbia today, but there were serious reservations among some member states - a reference to the tough stance taken by Belgium and the Netherlands on war crimes.
However, he said: "We are considering various possibilities of sending a positive signal (to Serbia)."
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU executive was close to being able to offer Serbians visa-free travel, but this would depend on addressing security concerns, including the need for biometric passports.