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NATO signs partnership pacts with Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia

December 14, 2006
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Brussels (dpa) - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Thursday signed partnership for peace pacts with the leaders of Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro as a first step in the countries' road to joining the alliance.

"This will help to bring the region more fully into the Euro-Atlantic family," said Scheffer.

But the NATO chief warned that Serbia and Bosnia must intensify cooperation with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Partnership for peace accords are seen as a first step in bringing new members into NATO.

The decision to extend such agreements to the three western Balkans states was taken by NATO leaders attending a summit in Riga last month.

There had earlier been strong differences in the alliance on how to deal with Serbia, with the US dropping its opposition to giving Serbia PfP status at the last minute.

PfP agreements offer participants a programme of practical bilateral cooperation with NATO. About 20 countries in Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia are members of the Programme.

In contrast to NATO, however, the European Union has said it will only resume negotiations on a cooperation deal with Serbia once it captures fugitive war crimes indictees including General Ratko Mladic. // © 2006 DPA

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