EU Warns Serbia On Mladic And Karadzic

Mladic and Karadzic's arrest is a precursor for Serbia's advancement within the EU (file) (epa) 19 January 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The European Commission today warned Serbia that it must hand over fugitive war crime suspects General Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic if it wants to build closer ties with the EU.
The warning was given by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who spoke after meeting in Brussels with the chief prosecutor of the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Carla del Ponte.


"If we cannot see rapid progress in achieving full cooperation [with the Tribunal], it would certainly have extremely negative consequences for the conduct of negotiations on the Stabilization and Association Agreement between the EU and Serbia," he said.


Rehn said association talks with Serbia -- a precursor to EU candidate status -- could be broken off.


Del Ponte said Mladic is in Serbia and enjoys the protection of the Serbian army. She said the Tribunal needs EU help in apprehending Mladic in time for the trial in July of nine other indictees in the genocide at Srebrenica.


Del Ponte praised Bosnia and Montenegro for their cooperation with the war crimes tribunal.


(RFE/RL)

The Fugitives

The Fugitives

Ratko Mladic (left) confers with Radovan Karadzic during a meeting in Pale in 1993 (epa)

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Ten years have passed since former Bosnian Serb leader RADOVAN KARADZIC and his former military commander General RATKO MLADIC were indicted by the Hague-based war crimes tribunal for genocide and other war crimes. The two fugitives remain at large, despite the obligation of NATO-led peacekeepers and the various governments in the region to arrest the indictees and send them to The Hague. Many people wonder why the most powerful military alliance in history and a host of governments seeking Euro-Atlantic integration remain unable to catch the two... (more)


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To listen to wartime audio of Ratko Mladic, click here.

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Coffins of Srebrenica victims being prepared for burial in October (AFP)

SREBRENICA: The July 1995 massacre of some 7,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb fighters near the UN-designated safe haven of Srebrenica is the worst atrocity of its kind in Europe since the end of World War II. Since the incident, the name Srebrenica has become practically synonomous with ethnic cleansing....(more)

See also:

Ten Years After Srebrenica

Coming To Grips With The UN's Failure At Srebrenica

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