BELGRADE MUST FULLY COOPERATE WITH HAGUE TRIBUNAL BEFORE EMBARKING ON E.U. ROAD

BELGRADE, May 11 (Hina) - Serbia-Montenegro cannot embark on the road to the European Union until it meets all its obligations towards the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten said in Belgrade on Tuesday after meeting Assistant Foreign Minister Predrag Boskovic.#L# We would like you to join the European family of nations, but that is up to you and your political leaders, Patten said, adding that the complaint filed by the Hague tribunal with the UN Security Council over Serbia-Montenegro's failure to cooperate was a serious matter. You are a country with potential, with a great future, but you will not have a future if you are looking at the past, he said. Boskovic said that the authorities in Belgrade would devote their efforts to meeting all the commitments towards the Hague tribunal because that was a condition for their survival. Later in the day Patten was scheduled to meet Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, his deputy Miroljub Labus, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and President of Serbia-Montenegro Svetozar Marovic. (Hina) vm