[Netherlands] European Union Talks with Serbia

[Dutchy]

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kingdom of the Netherlands​

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Recipient: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Serbia Mutmer
Cc: -
Subject: Technical Talks following the Grand European Summit
Attachment: Draft Treaty on the European Union
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

Your Excellency,

I am contacting you today under the directive of Prime Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to convey our intention to invite your government to the Amsterdam Summit, to be organised in the next few months, where a Treaty on the European Union can be signed by all participants. A formal invitation will be sent at a later date.

Prior to the holding of the Amsterdam Summit, we are hoping to hold discussions with all prospective participants individually in order to discuss the current draft, hear your government’s position on various policy areas, and to address and desire for amendments and changes to the current draft.

Attached to this message is the latest draft of the Treaty. I kindly request that you review this version and convey your position on the draft (whether that be in full agreement, or in the case that you have any changes to submit).

Additionally, I would kindly request that you answer the following questions in order to know your positions on some of the most critical provisions of the draft.

1. Do you agree with the current structure of the Union, that it will consist of:​

a. European Council (consisting of Heads of State or Government);
b. Council of the European Union (consisting of cabinet-level officials and lower level civil servants);
c. European Commission (which will support the President of the European Council in day-to-day administrative tasks), and;
d. European Court of Justice (to ensure the enforcement of European Law).​

2. Do you agree with the election procedure for the President of the European Council?​

a. Additionally, do you agree with the term-length and maximum number of terms for the President?​

4. Do you agree with the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union?
5. Do you agree with the provisions regarding European Law?
6. Do you agree with the legislative provisions regarding European Law?
7. Do you agree with the accession and withdrawal provisions?​

Yours Sincerely,

Atzo Nicolaï
Secretary of State for European Affairs

 

[Mutmer]

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Serbia
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From: Vuk Draskovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Serbia Mutmer
To: Agnes van Ardenne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of The Netherlands Dutchy
Subject: Talks on the European Union
Class: Classified

Greetings,

Thank you for reaching out, with our inclusion in our first meeting in the european council we of course would like to participate in the meeting in Amsterdam. We just have a couple of requests and questions regarding the meeting. We are asking if we could have the meeting in 2 months as our election occur on February, 12, 2002 and is showing signs of a new government taking control the SPO. Although they seem to be Pro-EU we still would like to get our election done prior to any signing. Second with the election and the plausible takeover of the SPO shows a rise of Jingoism, Nationalism and Pan-Yugoslavism, It could lead to many wars in the balkans. So the first question is What is the EU's Future stance on European wars.
We have some more concerns about the EU's Stance on Kosovo. If you dont know Kosovo is a serbian Rebel state attempting to break away from serbia illegitimately so our second question is of course in reference on kosovo What is the EU's Stance on Kosovo And in addition to that if the Eu supports an independent kosovo will we be forced to release them? We possibly have more questions but we will ask them later on.

As for your questions

1. We agree on the current structure of the union
2. We agree with the Election Process and we do agree with the Maximum Term length
3.
4. We agree with the Rotating Presidency
5. We agree with the current Provisions
6. We agree with the Legislator
7. We do NOT Agree and wish that it would be easier to ascend and Descend the EU

We hope that this satisfies you and we hope to see you at the Amsterdam Summit

Also we hope that perhaps belgrade can host a EU Summit one day ​

Vuk Draskovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Serbia -​

 

[Mutmer]

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Serbia​

From: Vuk Draskovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Serbia Mutmer
To: Agnes van Ardenne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of The Netherlands Dutchy
Subject: Talks on the European Union
Class: Classified

Greetings,

We are just sending this as you have yet to respond to our previous e-mail. We still would like to participate in the meeting in amsterdam yet we have gotten no confirmation or signal from the netherlands. Please respond to this as quickly as you can.

Thanks!,

Vuk Draskovic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Serbia

 

[Dutchy]

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Kingdom of the Netherlands​

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Recipient: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Serbia Mutmer
Cc: -
Subject: Technical Talks following the Grand European Summit
Attachment: Draft Treaty on the European Union
Classification: CONFIDENTIAL

Your Excellency,

Apologies for the delay in my response. We are honoured by your intention to attend the Amsterdam Summit, we are still conducting technical talks with other prospective Member States before we dispatch invitations for the summit. It is our aim to ensure that the draft has an as broad as possible consensus, and that every state has had the chance to input technical changes, prior to holding the summit. This may cause a delay in the previously stated date for the summit, but we believe that it will be worth the wait.

I am thankful for your responses to my questions and am of course happy to discuss them further.

In response to your first question, neither I myself or the Kingdom of the Netherlands can unilaterally decide the stance of the European Union on any matter of foreign policy. I can however add these items to the agenda of the Amsterdam Summit for discussion so that your concerns can be alleviated prior to signing any treaty.

In terms of your objection to the current state on the acension and withdraw provesions I would like to explain my government's stance on the matter and why we drafted it in this manner. We of course want to ensure that membership is open to every European state, however we feel that any acension should be done carefully to ensure that the candidate state has the full support of the Member States of the EU in order to avoid any future in fighting. Additionally, due to the introduction of European Law, any withdrawal from the EU would have to be carefully managed to ensure no breach in any European Law.

We are of course open to any amendments you may wish to suggest in regards to TITLE VII and TITLE VIII.

Yours Sincerely,

Atzo Nicolaï
Secretary of State for European Affairs

 

[Mutmer]

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Serbia​

From: Vuk Draskovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Serbia Mutmer
To: Agnes van Ardenne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kingdom of The Netherlands Dutchy
Subject: Talks on the European Union
Class: Classified

Greetings,

We appreciate the apology, and we are happy with the response and we will now begin our preparations for the amsterdam conference we are happy to be invited to this historic conference. We will be sending a representative to amsterdam as we are busy with the election and our discussions will hopefully be brought up in the conference.

To a United Europe!

Vuk Draskovic
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Serbia