BELGRADE, Dec 19 (Hina) - Failure to fully cooperate with the international criminal tribunal in The Hague is a serious obstacle to the Serbian-Montenegrin state union's joining European integration processes and it is impossible to
consider European Union membership without clearing that part of the past, Yugoslav Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said in an interview with the Fonet agency.
BELGRADE, Dec 19 (Hina) - Failure to fully cooperate with the
international criminal tribunal in The Hague is a serious obstacle
to the Serbian-Montenegrin state union's joining European
integration processes and it is impossible to consider European
Union membership without clearing that part of the past, Yugoslav
Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said in an interview with the
Fonet agency. #L#
"The Hague tribunal is a millstone around our country's neck, a
burden on the state and citizens. It is a burden that should not be
concealed. It should not be swept under the carpet, because the
tribunal will not disappear, nor will the question of the extent to
which we are fulfilling our obligations as a UN member, which is a
major obstacle to our admission to international organisations,"
Svilanovic said. He also stated that "it would not be good for the
country to appear before EU members burdened with its role in the
bloody break-up of the former Yugoslavia".
(hina) rml sb