EU throws down gauntlet to Serbia

Serbia must hand over Ratko Mladic by Sunday or talks on EU entry will be halted.

EU enlargement commissioner issued the stark warning to Serbia following a meeting with Serbian foreign minister, Vuk Draskovic on Friday.

“If Mladic is not in the Hague by the end of the month, we have no other options than to disrupt SAA negotiations,” the commissioner insisted.

“I am calling on the democratic forces of Serbia to work to clear the last obstacle. Serbia has a tremendous economic potential that is waiting to be liberated.”

Bosnian Serb military leader Mladic is wanted over his role in the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre of around 8,000 Bosnian Muslims, during the 1992- 1995 war in Bosnia.

In the past Rehn has accused Serbia of failing to arrest Mladic despite having the ability to do so.

But speaking on Friday, foreign minister Draskovic insisted his government was doing all it could to break down the "anti-European" networks that were protecting Mladic.

“We have not failed. It is the network of Milosevic supporters who have held this process up.”

Draskovic added that hope of arresting the war crimes fugitive still remained.

“There is still hope,” he insisted. “The prime minister is dedicated to this but I accept that we were a bit late in transforming the intelligence agencies set up by Milosevic.”

“We were naieve,” he continued. “In 2005 we believed we could change peoples’ attitudes through education. We were wrong."

"These people cannot be re-educated, they must be removed. I hope that the Hague obstacle can be removed in the next few days otherwise this will be a victory for the anti-European forces in Serbia.”

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