The European Commission and the Representatives of Serbia initialed here on Wednesday the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia, an important step towards establishing a contractual relationship between the EU and Serbia.
A statement issued by the EU said that the EU was willing to sign the agreement as soon as possible and as soon as preconditions were met.
It urged the Serbian authorities to redouble their efforts in the early realization of full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The EU encouraged the Serbian authorities to intensify the necessary reforms and to bring itself into line with the Copenhagen criteria, as well as the requirements of the Stabilization and Association Process, to achieve strong progress towards Serbia's integration into the EU.
EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, said Tuesday he hadbeen in contact in recent weeks with Carla del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the ICTY.
Ponte said she found a "political will" in Serbia to transfer the four indicted, including Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic.
Rehn said that cooperation with the ICTY was still not "perfect" and the signing of the SAA, the first formal step towards accession to the EU, depends on cooperation leading to the arrest of the indicted at large.
Source: Xinhua
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