Post by depletedreasons on Dec 28, 2007 4:52:28 GMT -5
Belgrade Boxed in Over War Criminals, Kosovo and EU Membership
Serbia is at a crossroads. Whether or not it has a future within the EU rests on how it deals with Kosovo -- and with its past. This week Belgrade seemed to break the silence on the whereabouts of war criminals Karadzic and Mladic, but said it would shun the West if Kosovo's independence is recognized.
A US poster in Sarajevo of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic (right) and his military commander Ratko Mladic, the UN war crimes tribunal's most wanted fugitives, announcing a reward of up to $5 million dollars (€3.46 million) for information leading to their arrest.
Serbia must be feeling like it's in a no-win situation these days: Kosovo is threatening to declare independence, while Serbia's membership of the European Union may depend on its willingness to hand over war criminals to the UN tribunal in The Hague. What's more -- there appears to be a crack in the Serbian wall of silence about the whereabouts of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, both wanted in The Hague for war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia.
Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladmir Vukcevic said Tuesday that Mladic was in hiding within Serbia and that Karadzic was "in the region," according to the Serbian Beta news agency.
The prosecutor's comments come as a surprise as they contradict repeated claims by the Serbian government that they have no knowledge of the men's whereabouts and confirm comments made by prosecutors at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
"I have no such knowledge and I don't know on which basis Vukcevic said it," Serbia's Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac told reporters in response, according to the Associated Press.
Mladic and Karadzic were the military and political leaders, respectively, of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-1995 war that split the former Yugoslavia apart. Both have been indicted by the UN tribunal for genocide and, in particular, for their alleged involvement in the slaughter of an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in 1995.
Mladic was last seen in Belgrade in 2006 and is believed to live under the protection of hard-line elements in the Serb military. Karadzic has not been seen since 1998. UN war crimes prosecutors believe that he might be sheltered by the nationalist clergy within the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The departing chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes court, Carla Del Ponte (more...), has repeatedly insisted that Serbia knows Mladic's whereabouts. In a recent news conference, Del Ponte urged that the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, which she led for eight years, not be shut down and that the EU not allow Serbia full membership of the bloc until the two were handed over to the court and prosecuted.
"The fact that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are still at large is a stain on our work, a stain on all these great achievements," Del Ponte said.
Earlier in December, Del Ponte told the Belgrade daily Blic that the Serbian government had unsuccessfully negotiated with Mladic to surrender himself in early 2006 and that he was not arrested, even though the officials knew exactly where he was located.
Such comments were strengthened in mid-December by Raffi Gregorian, a US diplomat and deputy international administrator in Bosnia. "Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica can solve the issue of (Mladic's and Karadzic's) arrests with just one phone call," Gregorian told Bosnia's BHT1 television, adding that he was "sure" that the two were hiding in Serbia.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Serbia's national assembly passed a resolution by a vote of 220 to 14 stating that it would not sign any international treaties -- such as one making it part of the EU -- if Kosovo declares independence and the international community recognizes the secession.
Serbia might not get a chance, however, to turn down an offer for admission to the EU. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, for example, pledged last week to not sign any agreement advancing Serbia's membership until Mladic is handed over.
"If we would water down at this stage these conditions, the European Union would lose its credibility," Verhagen said. "Ratko Mladic will have to be arrested and handed over to the tribunal."
jtw/ap/reuters
www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,525502,00.html
Serbia is at a crossroads. Whether or not it has a future within the EU rests on how it deals with Kosovo -- and with its past. This week Belgrade seemed to break the silence on the whereabouts of war criminals Karadzic and Mladic, but said it would shun the West if Kosovo's independence is recognized.
A US poster in Sarajevo of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic (right) and his military commander Ratko Mladic, the UN war crimes tribunal's most wanted fugitives, announcing a reward of up to $5 million dollars (€3.46 million) for information leading to their arrest.
Serbia must be feeling like it's in a no-win situation these days: Kosovo is threatening to declare independence, while Serbia's membership of the European Union may depend on its willingness to hand over war criminals to the UN tribunal in The Hague. What's more -- there appears to be a crack in the Serbian wall of silence about the whereabouts of Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, both wanted in The Hague for war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia.
Serbian war crimes prosecutor Vladmir Vukcevic said Tuesday that Mladic was in hiding within Serbia and that Karadzic was "in the region," according to the Serbian Beta news agency.
The prosecutor's comments come as a surprise as they contradict repeated claims by the Serbian government that they have no knowledge of the men's whereabouts and confirm comments made by prosecutors at the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
"I have no such knowledge and I don't know on which basis Vukcevic said it," Serbia's Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac told reporters in response, according to the Associated Press.
Mladic and Karadzic were the military and political leaders, respectively, of the Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-1995 war that split the former Yugoslavia apart. Both have been indicted by the UN tribunal for genocide and, in particular, for their alleged involvement in the slaughter of an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the eastern Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in 1995.
Mladic was last seen in Belgrade in 2006 and is believed to live under the protection of hard-line elements in the Serb military. Karadzic has not been seen since 1998. UN war crimes prosecutors believe that he might be sheltered by the nationalist clergy within the Serbian Orthodox Church.
The departing chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes court, Carla Del Ponte (more...), has repeatedly insisted that Serbia knows Mladic's whereabouts. In a recent news conference, Del Ponte urged that the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, which she led for eight years, not be shut down and that the EU not allow Serbia full membership of the bloc until the two were handed over to the court and prosecuted.
"The fact that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic are still at large is a stain on our work, a stain on all these great achievements," Del Ponte said.
Earlier in December, Del Ponte told the Belgrade daily Blic that the Serbian government had unsuccessfully negotiated with Mladic to surrender himself in early 2006 and that he was not arrested, even though the officials knew exactly where he was located.
Such comments were strengthened in mid-December by Raffi Gregorian, a US diplomat and deputy international administrator in Bosnia. "Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica can solve the issue of (Mladic's and Karadzic's) arrests with just one phone call," Gregorian told Bosnia's BHT1 television, adding that he was "sure" that the two were hiding in Serbia.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Serbia's national assembly passed a resolution by a vote of 220 to 14 stating that it would not sign any international treaties -- such as one making it part of the EU -- if Kosovo declares independence and the international community recognizes the secession.
Serbia might not get a chance, however, to turn down an offer for admission to the EU. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, for example, pledged last week to not sign any agreement advancing Serbia's membership until Mladic is handed over.
"If we would water down at this stage these conditions, the European Union would lose its credibility," Verhagen said. "Ratko Mladic will have to be arrested and handed over to the tribunal."
jtw/ap/reuters
www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,525502,00.html