BELGRADE (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac urged Serbia and independence-minded Montenegro on Friday to resume talks on future relations, making clear the European Union view they should stay together in a reformed Yugoslavia.
Chirac, the first head of state from a major Western power to visit Belgrade since the ousting of Slobodan Milosevic last year, also stressed the need to cooperate with the U.N. war crimes court in The Hague, where Milosevic now faces charges.
``We hope that all those who have committed crimes, whatever their nationality and wherever they may come from, will appear before the tribunal,'' Chirac told reporters after talks with Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica.
Kostunica has often criticized the tribunal for what he sees as its anti-Serb bias.
Chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has accused federal authorities of not cooperating and alleges the Yugoslav army is protecting one of the world's most wanted men, former Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic. The army denies the suggestion.
Sources close to Chirac's delegation said he insisted during talks with Kostunica on the handover of ``all those who had committed crimes'' to the U.N. court, particularly Mladic and a fellow indictee, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.