Netherlands, Belgium Offer Serbia Pact Compromise

Most EU states want to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Serbia now.

The Netherlands and Belgium have made a compromise proposal to European Union partners under which the bloc could sign a long-delayed association pact with Serbia in June, the Belgian foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"A joint proposal has been sent to the EU Presidency," the ministry spokesman said, noting that EU foreign ministers are due to discuss Serbia at a meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday.

Most EU states want to sign a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) -- a gateway to eventual membership -- with Serbia now, but the Netherlands and Belgium have long insisted the SAA cannot be signed until Belgrade shows full cooperation with the U.N. war crimes court in the Hague.

The Belgian spokesman said any signature would be on the understanding that the pact did not actually enter into force until the Hague tribunal was satisfied with Serbia's cooperation.