BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 4878 HINA Zagreb, 28 January 2003

HR-POLITICS-Politika BRIEF NEWS BULLETIN IN ENGLISH NO. 4878 HINA Zagreb, 28 January 2003 EU: PATH TO EUROPE ALSO GOES THROUGH HAGUEBRUSSELS, Jan 28 (Hina) - One of the paths Southeast European countries must take on their way to Europe goes through The Hague, British Secretary for European issues Dennis MacShane said in Brussels on Tuesday. The Briton said this after a meeting of the European Union's council for general and foreign affairs, which tackled the situation in the western Balkans and the region's prospects of joining the EU. MacShane said that establishing the rule of law was the central issue in five Southeast European countries, which included combating organised crime, people smuggling and corruption, as well as co-operation with the Hague-based war crimes tribunal. The British official particularly called on Croatia and Serbia to fully cooperate with the U.N. tribunal at the Hague and extradite war crimes indictees. The meeting was attended by foreign ministers, assista