Number: RS21686
Title: Conditions on U.S. Aid to Serbia
Authors: Steven Woehrel, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: Since FY2001, Congress has conditioned U.S. aid to Serbia on a presidential certification that Serbia has met certain conditions, including cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The second session of the 110th Congress may consider similar certification provisions in the FY2009 foreign aid legislation. Supporters of aid conditionality say such provisions may have spurred Serbia's cooperation with the Tribunal. Serbian cooperation with the ICTY may also be affected by the status of Serbia's Kosovo province. The Serbian government and parliament have threatened to sharply downgrade relations with any country that recognizes Kosovo's independence. If the United States and most European Union countries recognize Kosovo, as they are expected to do in early 2008, Serbia cooperation with the ICTY might cease, at least for a time.
Pages: 6
Date: January 7, 2008