European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso indicated in recent comments that Serbia could become a candidate for membership in the European Union as early as next year. He also said the country could get trade concessions even sooner with the arrest of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic.
Barroso set 2009 as a possible date for candidate status as he attempts to help reformers in the country. While the country has asked for candidate status this year, that is highly unlikely. Serbia is at risk of falling behind its neighbors, the former member states of Yugloslavia, without EU membership and the benefits that come with it. Slovenia has been a member of the EU since 2004 and Croatia is the next nation set to join the organization.
The EU has gone to great lengths to support the country’s move toward joining the group and in April it signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement. After the recent arrest of Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, European officials were eager to move toward a free trade agreement. With continued cooperation with the UN War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, it looks as if Serbia could soon be a member of the European Union.
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