A conditional welcome

last updated 8 January 2015

Belgrade

The E.U. opened negotiations this week on closer ties with Serbia and Montenegro—warning that failure to turn over war criminals would derail any deal. Serbia and Montenegro, formerly known as Yugoslavia, is beginning talks on forming a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the E.U., usually the first step on the long road toward membership. But at the opening ceremony, Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn deviated from the usual welcoming boilerplate and said Serbia must deliver suspects such as Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, accused of crimes against humanity in the Balkan wars, to the U.N. war-crimes tribunal. “If Serbia and Montenegro were not cooperating,” Rehn said, “we would not hesitate to use the suspension clause. But I trust the leaders of the country realize this.”