30th October 2010
European Union’s Expansion Moves East
Mark Hanson
The EU is preparing a further land grab in Eastern Europe, as barriers to the annexation of Serbia are lowered in priority.
Serbia has looked for some time to become part of the “European Project”, yet the after-effects of the conflict in Bosnia hang over negotiations. The Serbian desire to give up sovereignty has been on hold because of the blocking of its application due to the outstanding matter of General Ratko Mladic, who is wanted for alleged war-crimes during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Some EU nations, led by the Netherlands, have refused to consider the Serb bid due to its reluctance to seek out and hand over the former general who allegedly oversaw the massacre of Srebrenica.
The EU has now agreed to pass the Serbian application to the European Commission for review, a compulsory first stage before negotiations begin. This has only been possible because the Dutch dropped their opposition, after allies Germany and Britain became more supportive of Belgrade.
There are, however, strict conditions in order to ensure that Serbia tracks down and arrests Mladic, and that there is also a cordial relationship between Serbia and the breakaway republic of Kosovo. The Dutch have made clear that they will revive their veto at any point if Belgrade refuses to meet these conditions.
Serbia is historically an ally of Russia, drawing Russian troops into the First World War and being part of the Communist group of Eastern European nations. Russia is hoping that Serbia’s friendliness with the European structure will facilitate a realignment of European security, supplanting NATO and becoming a pan-European security arrangement that includes Russia but not the US.
On a visit to Belgrade the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, said that Serbia and Russia "have a similar approach to assessing the international situation, as well as issues of European security. “ He added: “ We are, of course, prepared to promote our [Russian] initiative together with our Serbian partners."
Serbian President Boris Tadic said his country was "open" to the initiative.
The ambitions of Russia, using Serbia, along with the EU ambition of having its own defence policy and its expansionist agenda, gives a real possibility that the EU could, within a few years, move firmly into being the “Eurasian Project” rather than simply being the “European Project”. It would give a further opening for EU influence in nations such as Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, and could prove an important step towards world governance.
