Slovenia keen to bring Serbia into EU: foreign minister

(BRDO PRI KRANJU) - Slovenia, which took over the EU presidency on January 1, expressed eagerness on Tuesday to bring Serbia into the 27-nation bloc, with the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo moving ever closer to independence.

Slovenia, EU president for the next six months, said a special task force would be set up to help speed up the integration of Serbia into the EU.

Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel also encouraged Serbia to sign the so-called Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), seen as a first step towards integration, by the end of this month.

"I'm one of those who believe that the SAA should be signed as soon of possible, possibly by the end of this month," Rupel told journalists in Ljubljana before heading to a meeting with the EU enlargement commissioner in the nearby castle of Brdo Pri Kranju.

Serbia has so far only initialled the SAA and must cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) before actually signing it.

EU nations want Belgrade to make every effort to capture Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his army chief, Ratko Mladic, who have been indicted for genocide during Bosnia's brutal 1992-1995 war and remain at large.

EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn similarly expressed hope the accord would be signed "as soon as possible", but was more cautious about giving a deadline.

"That is in the hands of Serbia and whether Serbia is willing to meet the (necessary) conditions," Rehn said.

Foreign minister Rupel announced after talks with Rehn and EU external affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner at Brdo Pri Kranju that the special task force would be set up to help speed Serbia's integration into the EU.

The committee is to include representatives from both Slovenia and France, which takes over as EU president in July, as well as members of the EU Commission and the EU council.

Rupel highlighted the strategic importance of the Balkan nation and suggested that European ministers should decide when Serbia has met the conditions for integration into the EU at one of their regular meetings.

EU commissioner Rehn said ministers would "listen very carefully to the assessments of the ICTY and its chief prosecutor", Serge Brammertz.

"The EU is technically ready to sign the SAA, once Serbia is ready to meet the conditions. I shall shortly consult (Brammertz) and ask for his assessment about cooperation."

Serbia had "a very tangible European perspective," Rehn added.

Last week, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica warned the EU it would have to choose between closer ties with Serbia and support for an independent Kosovo.

Serbia's majority ethnic Albanian province has been administered by the UN since NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to end a Belgrade-backed crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

Serbia fiercely opposes an EU proposal to send around 1,800 personnel to Kosovo, and Kostunica said in a statement such support for Kosovo's independence would be like "grabbing a part of Serbia's territory."

According to Kostunica, the EU will have to choose between signing the SAA with Serbia or sending its civilian mission to Kosovo.

In the coming months, Kosovo is expected to unilaterally proclaim independence from Serbia following failed negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina on the status of the disputed territory.

The proclamation is likely to get approval by the United States and a number of EU countries, but Serbia and its ally Russia said they would oppose any such move.