20 May 2003

Serbia seeks to become NATO partner Serbia and Montenegro wants to join NATO’s partnership programme and will work to meet all conditions this year, including the arrest of indicted war criminals, Prime Minister Zivkovic said during his visit on 20 May. The Prime Minister met with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson at Alliance Headquarters to discuss the conditions Serbia and Montenegro must fulfil in order to join NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme. This was the first visit by the Prime Minister to NATO and follows previous visits by other top officials. He said Serbia and Montenegro is determined to meet all requirements by the end of 2003, including the arrest of all indicted war criminals on its territory. The Secretary General stressed that this is a “critical precondition” and also includes General Ratko Mladic, indicted for war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and believed to be hiding in Serbia. “The Prime Minister has made it clear that if General Mladic is on Serbian territory then he will be arrested and his indictment and arrest warrant will be discharged in relation to the international criminal tribunal,” said Lord Robertson. The Secretary General also underlined that NATO would assist Serbia and Montenegro with moving towards membership in the Partnership for Peace, particularly on the issue of defence reform. Additional information: NATO Press Release (2003)048 - 19 May 2003 Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic to visit NATO NATO Multimedia - 20 May 2003 Visit to NATO of Prime Minister Zoran Zivkovic of Serbia Audio file of the press point (.MP3/4646Kb) Transcript of the press conference High resolution photos