BELGIUM/FILE: U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has said the European Union should not sign an agreement on closer ties with Serbia until former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic is arrested

Record ID: 695144

  • Title: BELGIUM/FILE: U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has said the European Union should not sign an agreement on closer ties with Serbia until former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic is arrested
  • Date: 26th June 2007
  • Summary: (BN10) SARAJEVO, BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA (FILE - 1992-1994) (REUTERS) TOP SHOTS CITY WITH BURNING BUILDING BOSNIAN SERB TANK FIRING EXPLOSION AS BUILDING IS SHELLED
  • Embargoed: 11th July 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7F1Y5IVXHVGCFBBERBTQHVJA0
  • Story Text: U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte has said the European Union should not sign an agreement on closer ties with Serbia until former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic is arrested. United Nations (U.N.) war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, speaking at a hearing of the European Parliament in Brussels on Tuesday (June 26) said the European Union should not conclude partnership talks with Serbia till former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic is arrested.
    ''For the ICTY, to get the remaining four fugitives located and arrested, the European Union conditionality regarding primarily Serbia but also Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, must be kept in full force. According to the proclaimed EU position, there should be no signing of the SAA before Ratko Mladic is arrested and full cooperation established, I hope,'' Del Ponte said, referring to the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA).
    Mladic is charged with genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
    Del Ponte said the new government in Serbia had finally understood the importance of handing over the last four fugitives sought by the Hague war crimes court and appeared to have the political will to arrest Mladic.
    The EU has made the signing of an SAA conditional on Belgrade achieving full cooperation with the Hague tribunal but not specifically on Mladic's arrest.
    ''The European Union conditionality proved to be a successful and absolutely crucial tool. Policy of conditionality especially the EU conditionality played a key role in encouraging states of the Western Balkans to cooperate. Ninety per cent of those accused in custody now are directly a result of the European Union conditionality. Conditionality is a unique incentive. It is both a carrot and a stick,'' Del Ponte added.
    Del Ponte said Mladic was believed to be in Serbia, whereas no one knew the whereabouts of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, also indicted for genocide.
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