Europe, Headlines

SERBIA: Agreement with EU Deepens Rift

Vesna Peric Zimonjic

BELGRADE, May 2 2008 (IPS) - Serbia achieved a long proclaimed foreign policy goal earlier this week when it signed a pre-membership pact with the European Union in Luxembourg.

But though this was declared a priority when the isolationist rule of Slobodan Milosevic ended in 2000, both the content and the timing of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has brought deep controversy.

The nation goes to early parliamentary elections May 11 after the coalition government fell apart due to irreconcilable differences over the self-proclaimed independence of the ethnic Albanian populated province Kosovo. By now 17 of 27 EU countries have recognised Kosovo’s independence.

The signing of the SAA (that tunes the political, economic and legal systems of aspiring EU members to EU norms) is viewed by some as an attempt by the EU to bolster pro-Western forces against surging nationalist parties. However, the SAA will come into force only after Serbia meets required conditions, such as handing over the remaining war crimes indictees from the break-up of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Some leaders have seen the agreement as triumph. “This is a historic moment for Serbia,” foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said after deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic signed the SAA with the EU’s enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn and foreign ministers of all 27 EU nations.

Jeremic and Djelic belong to the Democratic Party (DS) of Serbian President Boris Tadic, who also attended the ceremony. The DS was part of the coalition government led by conservative outgoing Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS). The DSS wants all ties with nations that recognised Kosovo to be cut. Besides the 17 EU countries, that would mean also the United States and other countries.

The DSS is now walking hand in hand with the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party (SRS) led by Tomislav Nikolic. According to public opinion surveys, the SRS will gain some 36 percent of the vote, ahead of the reform-oriented DS with 34 percent. Some 12 percent of votes for the DSS and small populist parties would make it possible for them to form a new government.

“Djelic’s signature amounts to treason,” Kostunica commented. “The SAA agreement is a false document that legalises the secession of Kosovo. Signed in such manner, it is legally null and void.” Kostunica wants the EU to recognise first “that Kosovo is part of Serbia” before it can begin talks.

Nikolic described President Tadic as the “biggest Serbian traitor so far” and threatened to start parliamentary proceedings to oust him from power once the SRS “takes over the parliament.”

Both Kostunica and Nikolic stand for closer ties with Russia, another issue that divides Serbs.

But alongside surveys estimating party strength, another by the well known Strategic Marketing Agency shows 66 percent support for signing the SAA. The survey was carried out Wednesday, a day after the agreement was signed.

“Hot political rhetoric serves the purpose of attracting the public ahead of the elections”, analyst Vladimir Goati told IPS. “It leaves behind the fact that the SAA agreement brings badly needed economic aid to the nation.”

Serbia is still recovering from the devastating 1990s, and is trying to attract more foreign investors.

“This (the SAA) is the real opportunity for people in Serbia to see the concrete results of cooperation with the EU,” head of EU Integrations Office Tanja Miscevic told reporters Wednesday. “Having such a document in our hands means that our country is a good area for investment; now we can be good partners with the EU countries.”

According to the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), 55 percent of Serbia’s exports in 2007 went to EU countries. Goran Nikolic, head of research for PKS, told IPS that exports to EU nations in 2007 rose 33.7 percent over 2006.

“Apart from neighbouring countries such as Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro, the EU nations are the most important economic partners of Serbia,” he added. Only 5.5 percent of Serbian exports go to Russia.

“All the barriers for Serbian exports will fall once the SAA comes in force,” Miscevic said. “Small customs (duties) will remain only for items not produced in Serbia, so local production will face no danger.”

So far, the EU has invested more than 1.5 billion dollars in Serbia. By 2013 another 1.5 billion dollars are at hand for more than 30 development programmes.

This aid comes through the EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), the financial support programme created in 2000 for aspiring EU members. It comprises Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.