Belgrade, 9 December 2005 – Ambassador of Germany to Belgrade Andreas Cobel said today that the arrest of the retired Croatian General Ante Gotovina, indicted for war crimes, will increase the pressure of international community on Serbia and shorten its patience, which may have an impact on the process of negotiation of Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU.
At the working breakfast with the press, organised by the Serbian European Integration Office and Conrad Adenauer Foundation, Cobel said that he did not want to discuss the deadlines, but that the European Commission made it clear that the negotiations may be suspended at any moment.
Speaking of the referendum in Montenegro, Cobel said that the government in Podgorica has the right to conduct referendum on the status of the country, but added that Germany is reserved regarding the independence of this state union’s republic.
`Montenegrin Government should wait for the decision of Venice Commission and to respect the interests of Montenegro, as well as those of the State Union`, Cobel said.
According to him, the next year will be extremely important since the future of Kosovo will be discussed then as well.
Cobel said that the UN Special Envoy for negotiations on Kosovo status Marti Ahtisaari will strive to reach the compromise acceptable for both sides.
Future status of Kosovo has to be negotiated by Serbian Government, the Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, with the assistance of Ahtisaari, but the Belgrade authorities have to pay more attention to the interest of the Serbs in Kosovo, Cobel assessed.
He said that the EU membership is the best direction for Serbia, since it will contribute to its modernization and democratization.
The vital interest of new German government is stability in the South-East Europe because Germany is one of the first countries that will be struck by the inflow of refugees in case of instability, Cobel said.
Cobel said he hoped that three problems will be solved by the end of 2006 – that all war crime indictees will be in the Hague, that a `compromised solution` will be reached for the status of Montenegro and that the `sustainable compromise` will be accomplished for Kosovo. At the beginning of 2007, when Germany assumes the EU presidency, it would assist the approaching of SCG to the European Union and the “improving of living conditions for SCG people”.
