Serbia seeks war crimes prosecutor's nod for EU membership

The UN chief war crimes prosecutor yesterday began a two-day visit to Serbia, seen by Belgrade as a chance to show its determination to arrest remaining war crimes fugitives and unblock its path to the EU.

The visit comes one month before Serge Brammertz will report to the UN Security Council on Serbia's cooperation with the tribunal in The Hague. His report will be closely watched by the European Union member states who will decide whether to unfreeze trade benefits for Serbia.

Serbia's war crime prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic said he will present Mr Brammertz information on all concrete steps the government has undertaken to capture Bosnian Serb fugitive general Ratko Mladic and Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic.

The coalition of pro-Western Democrats with the Socialists of late autocrat Slobodan Milosevic says EU membership is their top priority.

It must attract investment to revive the economy and deliver on generous welfare promises.

But in Serbia where two-thirds of the population favours EU membership, there is not much popular support for government efforts to arrest war crimes fugitives.