EU stalls on Serbia trade benefits decision

The European Union has today again put off a decision on whether to unfreeze trade benefits for EU hopeful Serbia following the…

The European Union has today again put off a decision on whether to unfreeze trade benefits for EU hopeful Serbia following the arrest last week of key war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic, diplomats said.

European Union enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn urged the bloc last week to allow Serbia improved trading conditions following the arrest of the wartime Bosnian Serb leader.

But diplomats said ambassadors from the 27 EU states agreed in Brussels to wait for Karadzic's transfer to the Hague tribunal and for Serge Brammertz, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia, to say whether Serbia was fully cooperating with the tribunal - the condition for unblocking Belgrade's EU path.

Reuters