Serbia finally signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with the European Union in Luxembourg yesterday.

On behalf of Serbia, the SAA document was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Delic, DS, and from the EU side it was signed by the EU’s Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, EU chair Slovenia’s Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel. The document was signed in presence of President Boris Tadic, DS, and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic, DS. The signing ceremony was attended by EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the foreign ministers from the 27 member states.

The SAA was signed in the form in which it was initialed, but its implementation will depend on the Council of Minister’s appraisal of whether Serbia has achieved full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal.

The European Council welcomed the singing of the SAA and the Temporary Agreement and stated in press statement, “In line with this, the ministers have agreed to send the text of the SAA for ratification to their parliaments, while the Union has decided to implement the Temporary Agreement as soon as it concludes that Serbia is fully cooperating with the Hague Tribunal.”

Javier Solana said, “Today is an important day for Serbia and for the European Union. The signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia is a powerful signal to the people of Serbia that their future lies in Europe. The people of Serbia will share the security, prosperity and freedom of movement that is already enjoyed today by the citizens of the European Union.”

“Achieving this objective will take hard work and tough decisions, and it will take some time. However, the signing of the SAA is an important milestone on the way, bringing you significantly closer to that goal. Now it is fundamental that Serbia remains on track and firmly committed to the values which underlie the European project,” Solana said.

“Today is also an important day for the European Union. Serbia is an enormously important partner. It has great economic, cultural and intellectual potential and this can make it a powerful motor for the progress of the entire region. Cooperation and genuine partnership between Brussels and Belgrade, including on the difficult issues, is vital for the success of our joint efforts to promote stability and prosperity. The European Union will not be complete until the countries of the region have joined the family. Today, we have taken an important step towards this objective,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief.