Dutch MPs Refuse to Ratify Serbia's SAA

Henk Jan Ormel, head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, placed the ratification of the Serbia-EU deal on the parliament's agenda but "unfortunately, the parliamentary majority did not accept this proposal," Ormel told Serbia's Tanjug news agency on Wednesday. 

The Stabilization and Association Agreement, SAA, by which EU hopefuls work to harmonise their domestic legislation with the bloc's laws and implement required reforms, is part of the pre-accession process and is the next important step on Serbia's EU path.

Following the arrest of wartime Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic on May 26 and his extradition to The Hague five days later, Serbian officials said openly that they had removed the last major obstacle on their path to completing SAA ratification and thus moving forward with EU integration.

The Dutch decision to postpone the ratification thus came as a surprise to many. The Netherlands has been one of the EU states which firmly opposes Serbia’s further EU integration until Belgrade apprehends war crimes suspects of the 1990s Balkan Wars.

Serbia was given the EU pre-accession green light on June 14, 2010, when the 27 EU foreign ministers decided to submit the country's SAA to the parliaments of EU member states for ratification. Since then, the agreement has been ratified by 18 out of the 27 parliaments of EU member states.

Ever since the deal was signed last June, the Dutch government has been blocking an interim trade deal which is part of the SAA, demanding that Belgrade first arrest the two remaining war crimes fugitives: Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic.

Milica Delevic, Director of Government Office for European Integration, has explained at a press conference on Wednesday that the Dutch MPs have postponed the ratification of the SAA as they are awaiting an official government's report on chief UN prosecutor Serge Brammertz's last week appearance before the United Nations.