SALZBURG, Austria, March 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union (EU) said Saturday that the death of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague is a sad moment, but does not change the need for the region to come to terms with the past.

    Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters here that she had been informed of the news on the death of Milosevic.

    Plassnik said the passing away of any human being is itself a sad moment and that the death of Milosevic "does not alter in any way the need for the region to come to terms with the legacy of the past, of which Slobodan Milosevic has been a part."

    "This will be one of the big challenges ahead for the region in order to reach what is one of the ultimate goals we are all working upon. That is lasting peace and reconciliation."

    Milosevic was found dead in his cell in The Hague earlier Saturday.

    Milosevic had been in detention in The Hague for trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

    The EU foreign ministers held discussions over the western Balkan countries' future perspectives in the 25-nation bloc.

    Serbia-Montenegro, the successor to the former Yugoslavia, is holding negations with the EU on a Stability and Association Agreement, technical preparations for formal accession talks.

    Kosovo, a Serbian province currently under UN administration, is also seeking independence from Belgrade.

    In The Hague, the UN war crimes tribunal confirmed that Milosevic died in the United Nations detention center in the suburbs of The Hague

    "Today, Saturday March 11, 2006, Slobodan Milosevic was found lifeless on his bed in his cell at the United Nations Detention Unit in Scheveningen," the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said in a statement.

    "The guard immediately alerted the Detention Unit Officer in command and the Medical Officer. The latter confirmed that Slobodan Milosevic was dead," it said.

    "The Dutch Police and a Dutch coroner were called in and started an enquiry. A full autopsy and a toxicological examination have been ordered," it said.

    The tribunal's president, Judge Fausto Pocar, has ordered a full inquiry, the court said, adding that Milosevic's family has been informed.

    The UN war crimes tribunal last month refused Milosevic's request for a temporary release to undergo medial treatment in Moscow.

    Milosevic, 64, suffered from high blood pressure and heart problems. In a trial that dragged on for four years, Milosevic faced more than 60 charges of war crimes including genocide for his role in the Balkan wars that tore the Yugoslav federation apart in the 1990s. Enditem