Serbia yesterday said that it would restore full relations with European Union states – scaled back after Kosovo declared independence – in the hope of securing diplomatic gains from the arrest of Radovan Karadzic.
Serbian security agents arrested the leading war-crimes suspect in Belgrade on Monday and the recently formed pro-EU government there now wants tangible rewards from Brussels for pushing ahead with domestically contentious policies.
“Serbia has done everything it can to abide by its international commitments,” Bozidar Djelic, the deputy prime minister for European integration, told the Financial Times.
“Action was expected of us and now we expect action from the EU and the US as well.”
Oliver Dulic, the environment minister, said ambassadors could be sent back to EU capitals as soon as next week. “The decision on the return of ambassadors for EU countries which have recognised Kosovo will reinforce our diplomatic position,” Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying. Serbia is not yet sending an ambassador to Washington.
Under the previous administration in Belgrade, Serbia had withdrawn its ambassadors from countries that recognised Kosovo, the ethnic Albanian-dominated state that broke from southern Serbia and declared independence on February 17.
More than 40 nations have recognised Kosovo, including 20 EU members and the US. The EU takes no position on the territory’s status but has promised it aid and institutional support.
Belgrade vows it will never recognise Kosovo but now appears more inclined to help the EU manage the ethnically tense territory.
Arresting Mr Karadzic – who was leader of the Bosnian Serbs during the region’s civil war in the 1990s – gave an unexpected boost to Serbia’s credibility with the 27-member bloc.
“Serbia is a serious and credible country,” said Mr Djelic. “We expect to be taken seriously on topics important to us, such as the Kosovo issue.”
The new government wants EU states to ratify Serbia’s pre-accession agreement – signed before close elections in May – by September when the bloc holds a foreign ministers’ meeting.
The agreement – the first step to EU membership – remains conditional on Belgrade’s “full co-operation” with the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.