Arrest war crimes fugitives, Dutch foreign minister tells Belgrade

17/12/2009

The Netherlands may be somewhat impressed with Serbia's recent level of war crimes co-operation, but refuses for now to back down on one key demand.

(Blic - 17/12/09; AFP, DPA, AKI, Radio Netherlands, IPS, Beta, B92, Serbian Government - 16/12/09)

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen attends a conference in Belgrade on Wednesday (December 16th). [Getty Images]

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen expressed his country's support for Serbia's aspirations to join the EU during a day-long visit to Belgrade on Wednesday (December 16th). But he also urged the country to capture the two remaining war crimes fugitives sought by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), particularly former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic.

"The Netherlands and I personally firmly believe in Serbia's European future," Verhagen said following talks with Serbian counterpart Vuk Jeremic. "It is crucial for Serbia to continue doing everything that is necessary in co-operation with The Hague tribunal and to arrest and extradite the last remaining fugitives, including Mladic."

Serbia has handed over more than 40 war crimes suspects to the ICTY in recent years. Former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic topped the list of the UN tribunal's most wanted indictees until his capture and transfer to The Hague in July 2008. He was arrested in Belgrade, where he had been living under the false identity of Dragan Dabic.

With that, Mladic and wartime Croat Serb political leader Goran Hadzic remained the only ICTY indictees still at large. Both are believed to be hiding in Serbia.

Authorities there say they are unaware of the fugitives' whereabouts, but insist that they are making every possible effort to apprehend them.

Jeremic told his Dutch counterpart Wednesday that EU membership is a priority for his country and that it is fully committed to meeting its obligations to the ICTY.

"Our co-operation with The Hague tribunal will last until it is fully completed, meaning until there are no more fugitives at large," the minister said.

Serbia signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), including an Interim Trade Agreement with the EU in April 2008, making a major first step towards eventual membership in the 27-nation bloc. But the accord was immediately blocked by the Netherlands over the country's failure to hand over the ICTY's most wanted indictees.

The Dutch unblocked the enactment of the trade pact earlier this month, after the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, gave a positive assessment of Serbia's co-operation with the institution in his bi-annual report to the UN Security Council. He also noted that Mladic and Hadzic's arrest remained the "most critical aspect" in the ICTY's relations with Belgrade.

Jeremic voiced confidence Wednesday that Brammertz's next report would be even more positive than the one he presented on December 3rd.

During his first visit to Belgrade in two years, Verhagen said that the Netherlands will keep a close watch on Serbia and other Balkan countries' progress in meeting the EU criteria for membership, promising a "strict, but fair" assessment. The Dutch, he also said, would provide financial and political assistance to Serbia in that process.

Co-operation with the ICTY, the relations between the two countries and the situation in the Balkans were among the issues Verhagen also discussed Wednesday with Serbian President Boris Tadic and Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic.

The Dutch foreign minister told Belgrade-based B92 ahead of his visit that the Netherlands will consider unblocking Serbia's SAA with the EU in June.