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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Membership of Partnership for Peace would speed up European integration

Belgrade/Brussels, 3 February 2006

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus talked today in Brussels with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer who said that the Alliance wishes Serbia-Montenegro to quickly become a member of the Partnership for Peace programme.

Miroljub Labus

Labus said that Scheffer told him that the only obstacle on that road is the lack of full cooperation with the Hague tribunal, but Scheffer voiced hope that this obstacle will be removed shortly.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that he informed the NATO Secretary General of Belgrade's moves to improve cooperation, especially pointing to opening archives and breaking with the past.

According to Labus, Scheffer said that progress in cooperation with the Hague tribunal can be measured only by the level of satisfaction of the tribunal itself, and that the sooner Serbia-Montenegro establishes full cooperation with the Hague, the quicker all the doors will be opened to it.. It was also pointed out that membership in the Partnership for Peace considerably accelerates the process of the European integration.

Labus said that if this is done quickly, Serbia-Montenegro will be able to enter the Partnership for Peace even before the conclusion of the Agreement on Stabilisation and Association with the EU.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Scheffer voiced satisfaction with the progress of the contractual relationship between Serbia-Montenegro and NATO, since the Contract on land communications has already been ratified and additional arrangements are being negotiated.

Labus said that they also discussed new programmes of cooperation with NATO. Such programmes are now underway, even though they normally come together in a “packet” with joining the Partnership for Peace.

At the conclusion of his three-day visit to the headquarters of the European Union and NATO, Labus said that he is returning to Belgrade with a clear message that full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal must soon be realised.

Labus said that he was received well on a personal level, but that EU officials are asking for results and that the faster these results are achieved, the sooner the policy of fulfilling conditions will be over and the policy of cooperation will begin, and then the path towards Europe will be open.

Speaking on the continuation of negotiations with the EU concerning the conclusion of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement Labus said that efforts are being made to continue these negotiations on February 20.

He said that if that goal is achieved it could be said that his visit to Brussels was successful. If not then communication with the EU but also with individual European capitals will have to be improved.

He confirmed that European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn will visit Belgrade in the second half of February, adding that the visit is very important for the further process of EU integration.