T he arrest and extradition of Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader, shows that the new Serbian government is serious about meeting its international obligations. This event was hailed by many European leaders as a watershed for relations between Serbia and the European Union. It has been often said that deeds, not words, are expected from Serbia. The same can now be said of our European partners.

As recent death threats to Serbia’s democratic leaders and violent ultranationalist demonstrations in Belgrade show, great challenges lie ahead. If the ruling coalition, led by President Boris Tadic, is to press on with its ambitious reform agenda, the EU must understand that Serbians expect from it swift and fair actions, but not privileges. The EU helped a few weeks ago by signing with us the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and providing a tough but fair roadmap for visa liberalisation. This new policy of disciplined partnership between the EU and Serbia yields much better results than the old one, based on conditionality and sanctions.