Day two of Del Ponte's Belgrade visit

Belgrade, October 26 (Source: B92) - Hague Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte continues her visit to Belgrade today. She is expected to meet with President Boris Tadić and Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica. Yesterday, Del Ponte discussed Serbia's cooperation with the UN war crimes court with Rasim Ljajić and Vladimir Vukčević, the coordinators of the action plan for Hague cooperation. Del Ponte also met with security agency chiefs Rade Bulatović and Svetko Kovač, as well as Police Director Milorad Veljović.

The officials aimed to convince Del Ponte that there was sufficient reason for her to report positively on Serbia's Hague cooperation to the European Union. Representative of the Stability Pact for South-East Europe, Goran Svilanović, said that he believed Del Ponte's evaluation would be positive and that Serbia would enter the next phase of Euro-Atlantic integration. Svilanović told B92 that the aim of Del Ponte’s visit was to find reasons to justify Serbian initialing of the EU Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA).

“My impression is that she’s not looking to disrupt Serbia's political stabilization and association with the EU, but that she is also aware that it is impossible for Serbia to become a member of the union without meeting all of its obligations to the Hague Tribunal. These are very important things for democracy in Serbia. At the same time, Serbia's association with the EU is of essential importance to maintaining democracy in Serbia, and I would say that there was a level of understanding for that on the part of Del Ponte and the European Commission,” Svilanović said.

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