EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana arrived in Belgrade Thursday for talks with Serbian and Montenegrin leaders on ways to step up efforts to bring the Balkan country closer to joining the European bloc. Solana met Svetozar Marovic, president of the Serbia-Montenegro union, and was later to meet the presidents and prime ministers of the two republics. He is expected to press Belgrade to extradite major war crimes suspects. Belgrade has been reluctant to arrest suspects sought by the U.N. war crimes tribunal at The Hague, Netherlands, fearing political backlash from nationalists loyal to former President Slobodan Milosevic and has preferred that they surrender voluntarily. The European Union has repeatedly warned Belgrade its membership prospects hinge on full cooperation with The Hague court. Twelve suspects have given themselves up since October, but major players, such as Bosnian Serb wartime commander Gen. Ratko Mladic, remain at large.
