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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Cooperation with Hague tribunal key for Serbia’s EU accession

Belgrade, 29 September 2005

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said today following a meeting with Hague tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte that Serbia’s state officials are aware that cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague is of key importance for Serbia’s accession to the European Union.

From left: Hague tribunal Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica and Head of the Serbian government’s Office of Media Relations Srdjan Djuric

The negotiations on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union (SAA) will begin in a few days, in October, in the very important month for democratic changes in Serbia-Montenegro, said Kostunica. He also pointed out that the issue, that is, rather the question, whether Serbia-Montenegro has fulfilled its international obligations concerning the tribunal in The Hague, will definitely have an effect on the course of the talks.

According to him, there is no doubt that the fact of whether Serbia-Montenegro has completed cooperation with the Hague tribunal will be of extreme significance for the course of the negotiations on the SAA.

To complete cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague is of vital interest for Serbia-Montenegro. There is no other solution and there is no alternative to that cooperation and we are completely aware of that, said the Prime Minister.

Kostunica said that Serbia has made considerable progress in cooperation with the Hague tribunal, which can be seen when the number of state officials who have been relieved of the obligation to keep state secrets and the number of documents that were handed over to the ICTY are taken into consideration.

On the other hand, Serbia’s authorities have done everything to strengthen regional cooperation, first of all, strengthening police cooperation in the region, as well as the cooperation of prosecutors in the region, said Kostunica.

He pointed out that mutual confidence has been established during the cooperation with the Hague tribunal, which has led, as he explained, to two-way cooperation, that is, the provisional release of several indictees until the beginning of trial, and to several cases that will be conducted before domestic courts.

Kostunica recalled that a new Penal Code was adopted today, which contains numerous solutions that facilitate cooperation with the ICTY, and pointed out that everything will be done for the completion of this cooperation to take place in the shortest possible period.

ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte expressed satisfaction with the cooperation with Belgrade from October last year, especially with the fact that 16 indictees have been extradited to The Hague during that period.

She said that cooperation has also been established in the access to witnesses and documents, but she expressed disappointment that six fugitives are still at large, and according to her knowledge, most probably hiding in Serbia.

We had expected indictee Ratko Mladic to be in The Hague by July 11, when the 10th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre took place, and now we have set a new date by when Mladic must be extradited to The Hague, and that is the anniversary of the Dayton agreement, which will be celebrated in December, said the Chief Prosecutor.

She also said that the prosecutors for war crimes in Belgrade are doing their jobs well and pointed out that two-way cooperation between Belgrade and The Hague has finally been achieved.