EU decides on Serbia

EU foreign ministers will consider whether to suspend talks with Serbia-Montenegro on Monday.

Last week EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said Serbia is not doing enough to arrest war crimes suspects Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.

Mladic remains at large following contradictory reports last week that suggested he had been arrested.

Rehn told the European parliament on Thursday that Serbia must arrest and transfer Mladic to the Hague “without delay.”

Serbia "cannot avoid...disruption of negotiations," he insisted. 

When negotiations started in October, Brussels said talks should be suspended if Serbia fails to fulfill certain criteria - co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is high on the list.

Calls for the arrest of war crime suspects were also reiterated by the foreign affairs select committee's annual human rights report last week.

"Accession to either the EU or Nato should remain impossible for any of the Balkan states until they have fulfilled all of their obligations to the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia," the report said.

But speaking on Sunday, Serbian deputy prime minister Miroljub Labus said he did "not believe the EU would sever ties with Belgrade."

He said he hoped Brussels would grant Serbia a few more weeks to capture and deliver Mladic.

On Monday ministers will also discuss the option of sanctions against Serbia.

Montenegro referendum

The Montenegrin referendum will also be on the table at the meeting of foreign ministers.

The EU has warned Montenegro its independence from Serbia will not be recognised unless it accepts Brussels' voting conditions.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has insisted at least 55 per cent of voters must opt for independence.

The Montenegrin government has spent the weekend lobbying furiously for the Brussels terms to be changed.

Critics say the 55 per cent arrangement is more exacting than that practised within the EU itself.

But EU foreign ministers are expected to agree to the Solana proposal today.

The next round of talks on Serbia-Montenegro is scheduled to begin on April 5.

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