EU could resume Serbia talks

The EU could resume suspended talks with Serbia even without the arrest of Ratko Mladic.

On Thursday Brussels said talks could restart if Belgrade proves it is doing its best to catch the war crimes suspect, a precedent was set by Croatia last year.

The European commission suspended Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) talks with Serbia in May.

Talks were halted over failure to deliver Mladic to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

But EU officials are now concerned that it is hard-line Serb nationalists who are reaping the electoral dividends from the stalled talks.

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica is set to present a plan for restarting SAA talks on Monday - in the margins of an EU foreign ministers' meeting.

The condition for restarting the talks had in the past widely been interpreted as meaning delivering Mladic, but officials say the formal requirement was for Serbia to demonstrate "full cooperation" with the UN tribunal.

And if Belgrade is seen to be cooperating, SAA talks could resume as early as September.

In the meantime, officials in Brussels will be hoping Mladic can be transferred to The Hague before possible early Serbian national elections that could be held in November.

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