BELGRADE, Serbia, May 2 (UPI) -- A Serbian deputy prime minister says EU association talks are close to being canceled after the country missed a deadline on handing over a war-crimes suspect.
Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus told Belgrade's B92 radio, "Only a miracle in the next 24 hours can save us, and rumors that (EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli) Rehn could change his decision are unfounded."
Serbia was to arrest and hand over former Gen. Ratko Mladic, who is accused of genocide and crime against humanity, including the massacre of 8,000 Muslim boys and men in 1995, in the former Yugoslavia. The deadline for the handover was Sunday.
After talks in Brussels Tuesday with Rehn and Reinhard Priebe, European Commission's Western Balkan director, Labus said Serbia-Montenegro's talks on stabilization and association with the EU are "one step from being canceled."
Rehn is expected to make a decision on the talks after meeting Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the U.N. tribunal, Wednesday to hear her report on Belgrade's cooperation with The Hague.
A next round of the EU association talks is scheduled for May 11.
