Mladic arrest 'important' for Serbia EU bid

(BRDO PRI KRANJU) - EU president Herman Van Rompuy welcomed the arrest of wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic Friday as an important step towards Serbia's accession to the European Union.

"This is a very important step in the right direction, much more even than that," Van Rompuy told a news conference during a one-day visit to Slovenia.

"Serbia of course has to comply with all the conditions (to start the EU integration process), but this is an essential one," he added.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said Wednesday that Belgrade was pushing for talks on joining the EU to start early next year, following Mladic's capture, which had been a key condition set by Brussels for the start of talks on Belgrade's EU-candidate status.

Slovenia has so far been the only former Yugoslav state to have joined the bloc, while its southern neighbour, Croatia, is hoping to conclude EU accession talks this year.

"I'm cautiously optimistic that the conclusion of accession negotiations (with Croatia) is now within reach," Van Rompuy said Friday.

He added the former Yugoslav state had made "considerable efforts and progress over the past twelve months."