(30 Apr 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of Belgrade street
2. Wide of people walking
3. Various of people reading newspapers
4. Wide of newspaper stand
5. Morning newspapers
6. Newspaper headline reading: (Serbian) "Signature with EU."
7. Newspaper headline reading: (Serbian) "Agreement with EU signed, Serbia divided."
8. Wide of street
9. Political analyst, Nebojsa Spaic, talking to reporter in his office
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Nebojsa Spaic, Political Analyst:
"So definitely this will have a direct impact on elections we expect for 11th of May. Definitely it will get few percent of votes for pro-European political parties in Serbia. However, the big question is will that be enough? The good side of this is that one recent survey showed that many people who are pro-European orientated don't believe that Europe is willing to accept Serbia. So this is clear and a direct sign that Europe is."
11. Cutaway of Spaic's hands
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Nebojsa Spaic, Political Analyst:
"So, one side of the story is definitely positive. Will that be enough? We will see. Other part of the story is that signing this agreement even more divided political scene in Serbia. Now it is very clear who is pro-European and who is not. That means that middle man, current Prime Minister (Vojislav) Kostunica, is now in the position to fight against this agreement. He will lose few votes because of that, but on the other hand, the question is will he lose enough for pro-European parties to get a majority? If not, this means that the current prime minister will probably be in a position to make government only with nationalists, with anti-European parties."
13. Spaic talking to reporter
STORYLINE
European Union nations have signed a pre-membership trade-and-aid pact with Serbia to help pro-Western parties there win upcoming elections and signalled they want to pull Serbia closer despite significant differences over Kosovo.
The EU's 27 foreign ministers and Serbian Deputy Premier Bozidar Djelic signed the deal on Tuesday.
Morning newspaper headlines on Wednesday, carried news of the agreement to the public in Belgrade.
The deal was expected to boost pro-European forces in Serbia ahead of the country's May 11 elections, called after the coalition government collapsed over Serbia's response to Kosovo's declaration of independence.
Nationalists have demanded that Serbia abandon its bid to become an EU member until the bloc acknowledges that Kosovo remains a part of Serbia, while the pro-Western camp has argued that Serbia must strive for EU membership regardless of Kosovo.
The pact was signed after the Netherlands and Belgium lifted their vetoes on the signing of the so-called Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
But because it will not take immediate effect, the signing had a largely symbolic value.
At a news conference with EU officials, Serbian President Boris Tadic said he hoped the signing of the pre-membership accord will discount the impact of anti-EU parties in the run-up to the elections.
He vowed to quickly extradite Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb commander wanted for the murder of eight-thousand Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, ex-Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and other suspects to trial in The Hague.
But Tadic said it was difficult because the suspects moved around frequently and were at times abroad.
The president also called for his country to be made an official EU candidate country by the end of the year.
Kostunica's statement said the agreement meant "absolutely nothing."
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
