EU statement delivered by H.E. Ambassador Stanislav Raščan
The European Union would like to draw the attention of the Permanent Council to Conclusions issued by the General Affairs and External Relations Council of the European Union on 29 April on the signature of a Stabilisation and Association Agreement and of an Interim Agreement with Serbia.
The Council welcomed the signature of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and of the Interim Agreement with Serbia as an important step on the country's path towards the EU. It looked forward to intensifying co-operation with Serbia through the comprehensive framework offered by these agreements and the other mechanisms of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
The Council recalled articles 2, 4 and 133 of the SAA and articles 1 and 54 of the Interim Agreement and stated that full co-operation with the ICTY, including all possible efforts to arrest and transfer indictees, is an essential element of these Agreements.
Accordingly, Ministers agreed to submit the SAA to their parliaments for ratification and the Community decided to implement the Interim Agreement as soon as the Council decides that Serbia fully co-operates with the ICTY.
The Council and the Commission will regularly monitor that Serbia continues to fully co-operate with the ICTY. The EU and its Member States will assist Serbia in this respect.
The candidate countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate countries Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this statement.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process
