The Netherlands obstructs deal with Serbia

The Netherlands prevented the European Union from extending new trade benefits to Serbia on Monday.

At a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, only Belgium supported Dutch minister Maxime Verhagen in his opposition to unfreezing the so-called stability and association agreement which offers Serbia aid and trade access to the EU.

Verhagen said "full cooperation" with the Yugoslavian war crimes tribunal in The Hague remains a pre-condition for the agreement.

After being briefed on Serbia's efforts by UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz, the other EU foreign ministers agreed that the arrest and hand over of Bosnian Serb ex-president Radovan Karadzic in July proves the country's willingness to cooperate.

Srebrenica

"We heard from him [Brammertz], that Serbia has made progress in several areas," Verhagen said. But he added that the prosecutor "also said that a lot more work is still needed" to hunt down remaining war crime suspects and offer better protection to potential witnesses.

Verhagen said the "best evidence" of Serbia's cooperation would be the arrest of the former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic. Mladic is charged with genocide following the massacre of thousands of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995. Dutch UN peacekeepers based in the town were unable to prevent the massacre.

All 27 EU nations have to agree to Serbia's pre-membership accord if it is to be implemented. While other EU members are eager to support the pro-European government in Serbia, Verhagen has the support of the Dutch parliament to remain opposed to the deal.