Investigation into Djindjic’s murder part of EU talks

BELGRADE - The investigation into the political background of the 2003 assassination of Serbia’s prime minister Zoran Djindjic is an official part of the negotiations with the EU on judiciary, head of the Serbian negotiating team Tanja Miscevic has said.

In an interview for Thursday’s edition of Belgrade-based newspaper Blic, Miscevic said that the issue is part of Chapter 23 talks, adding that the European Commission will not set it as a separate requirement.

The investigation into the political background of the prime minister’s assassination is an official part of the negotiations because the rule of law and stability of institutions cannot be achieved with such problems remaining unsolved, Miscevic explained.

“In any country, assassinations of prime ministers represent a serious challenge to the system. Even if the parliamentarians in the European Parliament had not urged the European Commission to launch the issue as a special requirement, we need to do that (conduct the investigation), for our own sake,” said Miscevic.

Asked whether it means that shedding light on murders of journalists is also officially part of Chapter 23 talks, Miscevic said that the talks will include any unsolved murder.

“One of the issues insisted on is the large number of unresolved court cases, but also the large number of especially serious murder cases, that is, political killings. Serbia has the obligation to deal with that,” she says.

Asked when the judiciary talks may be opened, Miscevic said that Serbia’s plan is for them to start as early as possible, which means opening Chapter 23 talks, which will deal with judicial reform, and Chapter 24 talks, dealing with police and judicial cooperation in...