The progress reported by ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte gives a credible possibility of concrete results in the weeks to come, Rehn said after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with del Ponte.
Rehn said that Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica had pledged in a telephone call on Friday to locate, arrest and transfer Mladic to The Hague "without delay".
"On this basis, I have decided to maintain the negotiation round next week," Rehn said in a written statement after talks with del Ponte in Brussels.
Rehn and del Ponte did not speak to the press after their meeting.
Rehn added in his statement that he would continue to closely follow Belgrade's cooperation with the tribunal and that the EC would review the situation again at the end of April and decide whether it would continue the talks.