European Union Stance
The European Union (EU) notes that for the time being, the only pre-condition and obstacle for Serbia's access to the EU is Serbia's cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the object of that obstacle and condition is the extradition of indicted Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide, the last two persons sought by the ICTY. Ratko Mladić was captured successfully on 26 May 2011 and Goran Hadžić on 20 July 2011.
A strong opponent of Serbia's signing and ratification of the SAA was the Netherlands, which stated that it will not put the SAA in force until Ratko Mladić is in ICTY custody. On 15 September 2008, the Netherlands froze the trade-related part of the SAA with Serbia.
Serbia and the EU were at odds over implementation of the EU's EULEX mission to Kosovo. The EU wants to implement its mission in Kosovo according to Martti Ahtisaari’s Kosovo status proposal, but Serbia wants EULEX to be first approved by the UN Security Council in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. This has subsequently occurred after the UN Chancellor and Serbian government have reached a 5-point plan, after which the UNSC has approved the EULEX mission, which functioned under the mandate of the UNMIK. On 19 May 2011, during his official visit to Serbia, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, said that recognition of Kosovo is not a pre-condition for Serbian EU accession.
The signing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement was opposed by the governments of the Netherlands and Belgium while the Government of Spain lobbied on behalf of Serbia.
Read more about this topic: Accession Of Serbia To The European Union
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