Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 344: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on ratification of the stabilisation and association agreement with Serbia and if he will indicate the Government's position regarding the level of Serbian co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39732/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Negotiations on an EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) began in 2005. However, the negotiation and signing process for the Agreement was delayed on a number of occasions until the EU was satisfied with Belgrade's level of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Cooperation with the ICTY is a precondition for those wishing to conclude Stabilisation and Association Agreements with the EU. Following positive assessments by the ICTY Chief Prosecutor regarding Serbia's ongoing cooperation with the Tribunal, Ministers decided by consensus at the June Foreign Affairs Council to submit the EU-Serbia SAA to national parliaments for ratification. At the same time, the Council again underlined that full cooperation with ICTY remains an essential element of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement process. The requirement for full cooperation with the ICTY is included in the text of the SAA with Serbia in Articles 2 and 4.

Each Member State ratifies Stabilisation and Association Agreements according to its own internal procedures. In Ireland's case, this requires the passing of a Resolution by Dáil Éireann approving the terms of the Agreement. It is proposed to submit a motion to Dáil Éireann in relation to the ratification by Ireland of the SAA with Serbia in the near future.

As the Deputy may be aware, at the General Affairs Council on 25 October Ministers decided, again by consensus, to refer Serbia's December 2009 application for EU membership to the European Commission for its opinion. This is essentially a technical step and usually happens quickly following the submission of an application. The period for the formulation of that opinion has no specific timeframe, although the Commission's research on Serbia's application is likely to take several months and a report is not expected until the second half of 2011.

The Council on 25 October also reaffirmed that the future of the Western Balkans lies in the European Union and reiterated that each country's progress towards the Union depends on its individual efforts to comply with the Copenhagen criteria and the conditionality of the Stabilisation and Association Process. The Council underlined that a constructive approach towards regional cooperation is essential and called for progress in the process of EU-facilitated dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina.

Furthermore, the Council recalled that, in line with the political criteria of Copenhagen, full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is an essential condition for membership of the EU and that Serbia's full cooperation with the ICTY is already required by the EU-Serbia SAA (Articles 2 and 4). The Council called upon Serbia to implement recommendations presented by the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor to the United Nations Security Council in June 2010 concerning Serbia's support in ongoing trials and appeals and assistance in the key matter of the arrest of the two remaining fugitives, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic. In addition, the Council underlined that, at each stage of Serbia's path towards EU accession, further steps will be taken only when the Council unanimously decides that full co-operation with the ICTY exists or continues to exist.

I share the widespread revulsion at the appalling massacres at Srebrenica and elsewhere during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I too want to see the perpetrators brought to justice as soon as possible. Regrettably, as we know from experience elsewhere, including in this country, justice can sometimes take time to deliver.

Serbia must do all in its power to ensure that the two remaining indictees are immediately handed over to the ICTY. However, I believe that we, for our part, should acknowledge the substantial progress Serbia has made in the ten years since public outrage led to the end of the Milo?evic regime. Serbia today is a different place from the Serbia of Milo?evic because of the courageous decisions of governments in Belgrade since then. Over the past year, in particular, we have seen a number of positive developments which demonstrate that Serbia's Government has moved away from the destructive politics of past decades.

These positive developments include: the declaration by the Belgrade Parliament last March condemning the Srebrenica massacre; the appointment by Bosnia and Herzegovina in March of an Ambassador in Belgrade for the first time in three years; the handing over of the wartime notebooks of Ratko Mladic to the ICTY in May; the joint visit by the Serbian and Croatian Presidents to Bosnia for the Srebrenica commemoration this July; the indictment in September of nine former paramilitaries by the country's war crimes prosecutor over the killing of ethnic Albanians during the Kosovo conflict; and the joint EU-Serbia UN General Assembly resolution on Kosovo this September.

I met with Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic in New York last month. He emphasised the importance Serbia attaches to EU integration and underlined Belgrade's commitment to working with the ICTY. In response to my questioning, he assured me that his government is determined to secure the arrest of the two remaining indictees.

I believe that the most likely means of achieving the arrest of Mladic and Hadzic lies in a combination of encouragement and pressure designed to empower the progressive elements in Serbia and that it is important that we send a signal to the people of Serbia that we recognise the positive direction their country has taken in the past decade. I welcome, therefore, the unanimous decision by Ministers to request an opinion on Serbia's membership application from the Commission. We should continue to assist and encourage Serbia in its reform programme, as it rebuilds its relations with its neighbours and moves towards the EU. At the same time, as with the Stabilisation and Association Agreement process, the EU will insist at each stage in the process that Serbia cooperates fully with the ICTY.