BRUSSELS - The European Union will resume talks on closer ties with Serbia next Wednesday, thanks to Belgrade's cooperation with the UN war crimes court, EU Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said Thursday.
"I welcome the progress Serbia has made since the establishment of the new government in its cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)," Barroso said.
Last week former Bosnian Serb general Zdravko Tolimir, who is facing genocide charges, was transferred to The Hague-based court after being arrested in eastern Bosnia having crossed the border from Serbia.
However, Barroso added: "Achieving full cooperation with the ICTY is not only an international obligation, but also a key condition on Serbia's road towards the EU."
That full cooperation centres around genocide suspect Ratko Mladic, although the EU has not insisted that the former Bosnian Serb army chief be brought to The Hague before talks can resume.
Belgrade called the European Union's decision to resume the talks "extremely positive" for the Balkan country.
"This is good news which brings more stability and significantly strengthens partner relationships between Serbia and the EU," Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica told the state-run Tanjug news agency.
He added that his government was "fully determined to fulfil all its international obligations and to finalise cooperation with the ICTY as soon as possible, in the interest of Serbia."
Serbian President Boris Tadic also welcomed the EU decision, saying that his country's new government "must immediately get down to work in order to make up for what has been lost."
"At the same time, we have to see through to the end cooperation with The Hague tribunal because it is all part of the political process," Tadic told Tanjug.
UN war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said in a newspaper interview on Wednesday that she expected Mladic to be arrested within weeks.
Mladic, 64, is widely believed to be hiding in Serbia, where many still consider him a hero.
The EU froze talks with Serbia on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) -- a first step towards eventual EU membership -- just over a year ago because of Belgrade's failure to cooperate with the UN tribunal.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said he had consulted Thursday with Del Ponte, who was in Belgrade to push for the handover of more fugitives.
"I am glad that she confirms that Serbia has now demonstrated clear commitment to full cooperation with the ICTY and that, in recent weeks, concrete actions have matched this commitment," Rehn said in a statement.
"Next Wednesday we will hold the next round of talks on this important agreement, which will bring concrete trade and economic benefits for Serbia," said Rehn. The talks will be held in Brussels.
Thursday's decision follows a meeting in February of EU foreign ministers who welcomed the Commission's readiness to resume negotiations provided Belgrade takes concrete and effective action for full cooperation with the court.
The capture of Tolimir means that only five of the 161 people indicted by the ICTY over the conflicts that shattered the former communist Yugoslav in the 1990s remain at large.
Del Ponte has in the past been scathing of Belgrade's failure to capture Mladic.
Along with his wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic, Mladic is top of the wanted list on charges of ordering the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at the war-time Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica.
But nearly 12 years after the ICTY indicted them on genocide charges, the pair remain at large. The Srebrenica massacre is considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
06/07/2007 16:36 GMT