SERBIA FAR FROM READY FOR EU MEMBERSHIP

Your article “Serb election likely to result in government romp” (January 19) points to Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić’s desire to bring his country into the EU, and his commitment to repair relations with “Serbia’s old enemies in the former Yugoslavia.”

Serbia’s desire for EU membership is well known. First it needs to face up to its past. Prime Minister Vučić has made some seemingly sincere attempts to reach out to Bosnia and make amends for Serbia’s wartime transgressions. Yet Vučić supported the war and the Bosnian genocide. Since the end of the war, he has continued to support war criminals and the expansionist dream of a Greater Serbia.

In our view, Serbia should meet these conditions before it tries to join the EU:

- recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia and Herzegovina

- recognize the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially in Srebrenica

- develop a clear stance on the rights of the victims of war crimes

- condemn all forms of discrimination against Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats and other non-Serbs in Republika Srpska

- respect the final decisions of the international courts regarding the genocide in Srebrenica and Bosnia

- immediately stop purchasing Russian arms, to safeguard peace in the region

Until this happens, Serbia is far from ready to enter the European Union.

Suzana Vukic, Emir Ramic

Institute for Research of Genocide Canada

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada