Protesters stand in front of a anti-EU banner as they attend a demonstration in front of Serbian Parliament on May 29, 2011 in Belgrade, called by ultra-nationalists against Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic's arrest lats May 26.
ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/GETTY IMAGES 
Its president, Boris Tadic, is hoping for a member’s seat at the European Union — and soon.
But for both Tadic, and the beleaguered union, there are hurdles ahead. The clock is ticking toward a 2012 Serbian election, and a Brussels decision to put Belgrade on the track to long-sought integration.
Serbia’s longing for EU membership is not surprising. And in spite of political splits, some 60 per cent of Serbs back it.
With membership goes new trade; investment opportunity for a nation, in the doldrums for decades; subsidies; freedom of movement; a common currency and eventually an open door for Serbs to work in more prosperous countries.
It also helps to reclaim the place Belgrade lost as a cosmopolitan centre of culture and intellectual life, in the dark days of Slobodan Milosevic’s rule. And it confirms the normalization of Serbia’s post-Milosevic identity after the wars that stained the country with blood.
“The arrest of Mladic really lifted a great burden from Serbia,” says Ivan Vejvoda, a vice-president of the German Marshall Fund in Washington, and former senior adviser to murdered prime minister Zoran Djindjic. “During a period of democratic rule, the country had been held hostage by one person.”
In spite of years of doubts about Serbia’s commitment to bringing Mladic to justice, and a recent poll that showed 51 per cent of respondents were against handing him over to The Hague, European leaders reacted swiftly, and favourably, to his arrest. And ratings of Tadic’s Democratic Party have risen.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called the arrest “a step toward integration . . . into the EU someday soon.” and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was “the best basis for the region achieving reconciliation and a future in Europe.”
But problems still lie ahead. A report by international war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz on Serbia’s co-operation with The Hague will be tabled at the UN this month. And the European Commission, which will decide on Serbia’s candidature for membership in October, is expected to base its decision on his conclusions.
Serbia’s opposition to the ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo’s declaration of independence has also worried the EU’s bedrock members, who are not eager to admit countries in conflict. But Tadic has joined in talks with Kosovo, and sent his chief negotiator to the capital Pristina.
The EU, meanwhile, has its own problems with expansion, and some original members grumble that the now 27-member body has already stretched too far. The economic crisis has bitten deeply, and several are seeking bailouts. Some also question the wisdom of remaining in the eurozone.
But for Tadic, and his ruling Democratic Party, which faces election next year — and a challenge from a nationalist party that led protests calling for an earlier poll — gaining a foothold on EU membership is crucial to political survival. And to Serbia’s future direction.
Some critics say that even admission as an EU candidate will do little to quell the frustration of recession-hit Serbs who believe the country has given too much for too little in return.
But says Vejvoda, “the situation is improving, and Tadic’s standing in the polls is better. Mladic’s arrest will help to bring back the liberal democratic voters.”
Tadic has also won points with a visa-free policy for EU countries that started in 2009. And the Fiat-Chrysler auto company is about to reboot an old plant in central Serbia that will turn out about 200,000 cars a year.
Mladic’s arrest will push Serbia farther down the road to stability, and EU membership. But some believe more is required.
The arrest “cannot simply mean closing the door on the past,” says Natasha Kandic, director of Belgrade’s Humanitarian Law Centre.
“Regional reconciliation strongly depends on Serbia’s approach. Good steps forward have been made . . . (but) promoting debate is the next one. Political authorities need to show serious support for establishment of a commission for truth and justice.
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