No EU reward for Serbia's Karadzic capture

ELITSA VUCHEVA

22.07.2008 @ 17:46 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – EU foreign ministers on Tuesday hailed the arrest of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic as an important step in Serbia's progress towards EU integration - but stopped short of offering Belgrade any concrete concessions at this stage.

The 27 ministers gathered in Brussels "welcomed" the arrest and said it was "a significant step on Serbia's path towards the EU."

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"The Council [the member states] encourages the Serbian government to continue along that path," read the conclusions of the meeting.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, called the arrest "excellent news."

It is also an "additional reason" to invite Serbia to "one day" become EU member, he said at a press conference following the meeting.

UK foreign secretary David Milliband praised Belgrade for arresting Mr Karadzic as well.

"Today is the day to congratulate the Serbian government, a day to say 'well done' and to look forward to the next steps of co-operation with the tribunal in the Hague [the UN war crimes tribunal]," he was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

For his part, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn called the moment: "historic for international justice."

It is also "very important for Serbia's European aspirations" and "proves that the new government of Serbia has the determination to turn the page, leave the nationalist past behind and move towards a European future," he added.

The former Bosnian Serb leader's arrest was announced late on Monday night after he had been on the run for more than ten years, having been charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

During some of this time, he had been working in a private clinic in Belgrade practising alternative medicine and using a "very convincing disguise" - a long white beard and a fake name, Dragan Dabic, Serbian officials revealed on Tuesday, reports news site B92.net.

'Not necessarily 'the' step'

However, some EU member adopted a cautious approach and called for the two remaining war criminals at large - Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic and former Croatian Serb rebel leader Goran Hadzic - to be caught before Belgrade is allowed any significant rapprochement with the EU.

The Netherlands and Belgium "are not ready yet" to assess Belgrade's co-operation with the UN war crimes tribunal as "full" - a criterion for allowing closer EU ties with Serbia, Bulgarian foreign minister Ivailo Kalfin told reporters.

While welcoming the arrest, his Swedish counterpart, Carl Bildt, said it was "a step," adding: "It is not necessarily the step," AFP news agency reported.

Mr Kouchner also stressed that "we cannot be satisfied with only one arrest. We are waiting for more."

For its part, Serbia is hopeful that the capture of the former Bosnian Serb leader will aid its EU aspirations to be met and support its "very ambitious plan."

Belgrade is hoping to attain the status of an EU candidate country by the end of this year and "at the latest in the first half of 2009," Serbian foreign minister Vuk Jeremic said in Brussels today.

EU ambassadors are to "review" the situation and consider possible "new steps in Serbia's EU integration shortly," Mr Rehn said.

He added that the commission would encourage member states to start implementing the trade-related part of the pre-accession deal - the Stabilisation and Association Agreement - the EU signed with Belgrade in April.