Oh, well, I guess it's okay if THEY do it....
July 1, 2006
World Briefing | Europe
The Hague: Muslim Freed After Conviction
By MARLISE SIMONS
The International War Crimes Tribunal sentenced Naser Oric, the wartime commander of the Muslim force at Srebrenica, to two years imprisonment for failing to prevent the cruel treatment and killing of Serbian prisoners during Bosnia's 1992-95 civil war. He was immediately released because he had already spent three years in detention. Prosecutors had asked for an 18-year sentence, for the looting and burning of Serb villages by the poorly trained volunteer force under his command. But the judges said the "abysmal conditions" of the town — surrounded by Serbian troops and overwhelmed with refugees, many of them starving — had led to a such breakdown of law and order that Mr. Oric, just 25 when he was appointed commander, could not be held accountable for crimes by his irregular defense force. He left the area two months before the infamous Serbian execution of some 8,000 unarmed men and boys in 1995.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/01/world/europe/01briefs-003.html
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Friday, June 30, 2006
Serbia warns of break with west over Kosovo
By Daniel Dombey in London and Neil Macdonald in Pristina
Published: June 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 28 2006 03:00
Serbia yesterday warned it could break with the west unless the international community took a more conciliatory approach over the issues of Kosovo and the apprehension of an indicted war criminal.
By Daniel Dombey in London and Neil Macdonald in Pristina
Published: June 28 2006 03:00 | Last updated: June 28 2006 03:00
Serbia yesterday warned it could break with the west unless the international community took a more conciliatory approach over the issues of Kosovo and the apprehension of an indicted war criminal.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Of course, this kind of rhetoric doesn't help the situation....
Serbia PM: Kosovo will be Serbian for ever
PRISTINA, Serbia, June 28 (UPI) -- Serbia's prime minister said Wednesday the predominantly Albanian Kosovo province has been, and will remain part of Serbia forever.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060628-112159-4517r
Serbia PM: Kosovo will be Serbian for ever
PRISTINA, Serbia, June 28 (UPI) -- Serbia's prime minister said Wednesday the predominantly Albanian Kosovo province has been, and will remain part of Serbia forever.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060628-112159-4517r
Thursday, June 22, 2006
I haven't said much about the World Cup because, as most of you know, there is nothing to say...
MUNICH, Germany -- Serbia-Montenegro existed only at the World Cup.
With the team's humiliating exit from the tournament -- three defeats in three matches -- the final vestige of old unified Yugoslavia came to an end.
Playing its last match as a national team on Wednesday, Serbia-Montenegro ended with another loss, this time after squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat to Ivory Coast.
"We should feel happy that we were at the World Cup at all," coach Ilija Petkovic said. "I'm only sorry that our last appearance didn't go the way we planned."
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=102519
MUNICH, Germany -- Serbia-Montenegro existed only at the World Cup.
With the team's humiliating exit from the tournament -- three defeats in three matches -- the final vestige of old unified Yugoslavia came to an end.
Playing its last match as a national team on Wednesday, Serbia-Montenegro ended with another loss, this time after squandering a two-goal lead in a 3-2 defeat to Ivory Coast.
"We should feel happy that we were at the World Cup at all," coach Ilija Petkovic said. "I'm only sorry that our last appearance didn't go the way we planned."
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=102519
Thu Jun 22, 11:28 AM ET
Two US F-16 fighter jets landed for the first time at a military airbase in Serbia, seven years after similar planes took part in a NATO-led bombing campaign on the country.
Serbia's defence ministry said the two jets had touched down at the Batajnica military airport on a "visit that is a part of the process of increasing military cooperation between Serbia and the United States."
The ministry described the visit as a "historic event" as it was the first time that American fighter planes had landed at a Serbian military base.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060622/pl_afp/serbiausmilitary_060622152855
Two US F-16 fighter jets landed for the first time at a military airbase in Serbia, seven years after similar planes took part in a NATO-led bombing campaign on the country.
Serbia's defence ministry said the two jets had touched down at the Batajnica military airport on a "visit that is a part of the process of increasing military cooperation between Serbia and the United States."
The ministry described the visit as a "historic event" as it was the first time that American fighter planes had landed at a Serbian military base.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060622/pl_afp/serbiausmilitary_060622152855
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Serbs no closer to arresting war fugitive despite aid cut
By Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune June 18, 2006
BELGRADE, Serbia -- The general still has his admirers.
In the musty headquarters of the Center for the Investigation of War Crimes Against Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, his portrait is prominently displayed on the wall behind Ljubisa Ristic's desk.
``My personal opinion is that he is a true soldier and a hero of the Serbian people," Ristic said.
It is not clear how many other Serbs feel that way about General Ratko Mladic, the wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb army and chief executor of its ethnic cleansing campaign.
``I'd say 75 percent of the Serbs see him as a war hero," said Aleksandar Tijanic, who heads the state-run television network in Serbia. ``But if you ask them if he should he go to The Hague to save the Serbs from more suffering, 75 percent would say yes."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/06/18/serbs_no_closer_to_arresting_war_fugitive_despite_aid_cut/
By Tom Hundley, Chicago Tribune June 18, 2006
BELGRADE, Serbia -- The general still has his admirers.
In the musty headquarters of the Center for the Investigation of War Crimes Against Serbs in Bosnia-Herzegovina, his portrait is prominently displayed on the wall behind Ljubisa Ristic's desk.
``My personal opinion is that he is a true soldier and a hero of the Serbian people," Ristic said.
It is not clear how many other Serbs feel that way about General Ratko Mladic, the wartime commander of the Bosnian Serb army and chief executor of its ethnic cleansing campaign.
``I'd say 75 percent of the Serbs see him as a war hero," said Aleksandar Tijanic, who heads the state-run television network in Serbia. ``But if you ask them if he should he go to The Hague to save the Serbs from more suffering, 75 percent would say yes."
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2006/06/18/serbs_no_closer_to_arresting_war_fugitive_despite_aid_cut/
THE HAGUE Among the unfinished business left by the death of Slobodan Milosevic is the central question of whether he was guilty, as charged, of genocide in Bosnia.
But while his death brought a sudden end to his trial at the UN war crimes tribunal here, the genocide issue is very much alive. It may well be decided by another UN court based in The Hague: the International Court of Justice.
That court, also known as the World Court, recently finished nine weeks of hearings on a case filed 13 years ago, in the middle of the Bosnian war.
With Muslim villages under attack and civilians driven into detention camps, Bosnia's lawyers turned to the court, accusing Yugoslavia of violations "on all counts" of the UN Convention on Genocide. The case was held back by the slow-paced institution and by repeated legal moves from Belgrade to block it. In the meantime, Yugoslavia became Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, and in May simply Serbia...
Should the court rule in Bosnia's favor, the Serbian state will suffer the stigma of having committed genocide, an outcome that would implicate the entire Milosevic government.
For Serb citizens and their fledgling economy, that could mean also being saddled with hefty war reparations. Bosnia has asked the court to award damages for the loss of life and property.
During the war, 100,000 people died, the majority of them Muslims, and entire Muslim towns and villages were destroyed, including their mosques and monuments. No figure was set.
Serbia has argued that there were excesses of war but no genocidal campaign, that Belgrade did not control events in Bosnia and that a verdict favoring Bosnia will make reconciliation even more difficult. Bosnia says the opposite, and argues it needs "recognition of Serb guilt" even more than reparations.
But while his death brought a sudden end to his trial at the UN war crimes tribunal here, the genocide issue is very much alive. It may well be decided by another UN court based in The Hague: the International Court of Justice.
That court, also known as the World Court, recently finished nine weeks of hearings on a case filed 13 years ago, in the middle of the Bosnian war.
With Muslim villages under attack and civilians driven into detention camps, Bosnia's lawyers turned to the court, accusing Yugoslavia of violations "on all counts" of the UN Convention on Genocide. The case was held back by the slow-paced institution and by repeated legal moves from Belgrade to block it. In the meantime, Yugoslavia became Serbia and Montenegro in 2003, and in May simply Serbia...
Should the court rule in Bosnia's favor, the Serbian state will suffer the stigma of having committed genocide, an outcome that would implicate the entire Milosevic government.
For Serb citizens and their fledgling economy, that could mean also being saddled with hefty war reparations. Bosnia has asked the court to award damages for the loss of life and property.
During the war, 100,000 people died, the majority of them Muslims, and entire Muslim towns and villages were destroyed, including their mosques and monuments. No figure was set.
Serbia has argued that there were excesses of war but no genocidal campaign, that Belgrade did not control events in Bosnia and that a verdict favoring Bosnia will make reconciliation even more difficult. Bosnia says the opposite, and argues it needs "recognition of Serb guilt" even more than reparations.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Boy, this doesn't sound good at all....
June 13, 2006
For Albanians in Kosovo, Hope for Independence From Serbia
By NICHOLAS WOOD
BELGRADE, Serbia, June 8 — Seven years after Kosovo was placed under United Nations control, it appears increasingly likely that the province will be allowed to break away from Serbia formally and become an independent nation.
Members of the United Nations Security Council appear to be leaning toward permitting Kosovo to go its own way. The Council is expected to vote on Kosovo's fate by the end of the year, unless the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, who have been negotiating unsuccessfully for months, reach a resolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/world/europe/13kosovo.html
June 13, 2006
For Albanians in Kosovo, Hope for Independence From Serbia
By NICHOLAS WOOD
BELGRADE, Serbia, June 8 — Seven years after Kosovo was placed under United Nations control, it appears increasingly likely that the province will be allowed to break away from Serbia formally and become an independent nation.
Members of the United Nations Security Council appear to be leaning toward permitting Kosovo to go its own way. The Council is expected to vote on Kosovo's fate by the end of the year, unless the Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, who have been negotiating unsuccessfully for months, reach a resolution.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/world/europe/13kosovo.html
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Lord, what won't they blame them for!!!!!
Serbia told to drop "negative" influence on Kosovo
Thu Jun 8, 8:05 AM ET
Serbia must drop its "negative" influence on Serbs in Kosovo and tell them to re-engage with the ethnic Albanian majority, the major powers said on Thursday, as a decision nears on the province's fate.
The West holds Belgrade responsible for a Serb boycott of political life in the United Nations-run province, which it says is complicating efforts to decide Kosovo's future this year in U.N.-led talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc_1
Serbia told to drop "negative" influence on Kosovo
Thu Jun 8, 8:05 AM ET
Serbia must drop its "negative" influence on Serbs in Kosovo and tell them to re-engage with the ethnic Albanian majority, the major powers said on Thursday, as a decision nears on the province's fate.
The West holds Belgrade responsible for a Serb boycott of political life in the United Nations-run province, which it says is complicating efforts to decide Kosovo's future this year in U.N.-led talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060608/wl_nm/serbia_kosovo_dc_1
Monday, June 05, 2006
Well, I guess it's better to just accept the situation than allow the hardliners to use it to their advantage....
Left alone, Serbia declares its independence too
by Filip RodicMon Jun 5, 10:39 AM ET
Serbia sealed the final act of Yugoslavia's turbulent history when it proclaimed independence after Montenegro, its last ally, abandoned its formal 88-year association with Belgrade.
After an extraordinary session of parliament, officials lowered the flag of the defunct federation of Serbia and Montenegro from the building in Belgrade and raised the Serbian standard in its place.
Lawmakers proclaimed independence before transferring solely onto Belgrade the international status of the federation, including its seat on bodies such as the United Nations.
Serbian President Boris Tadic wrote to Svetozar Marovic, a Montenegrin who had headed the federation, saying he considered the break-up to be a "personal loss."
But he insisted that he was "ready to lead my country along democratic and European path that would bring better life to its citizens."
Serbia effectively became a sovereign state after all 126 deputies present in the 250-seat assembly backed an order to the government and state bodies to complete all formalities about the succession and resolve all disputed issues with Montenegro within next 45 days.
It follows Montenegro's own formal independence declaration Saturday after the tiny Balkan state voted on May 21 to secede from the union that had bound together the last remnants of the former Yugoslavia.
Neither Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica nor Tadic was present as deputies gathered in gloomy mood.
"Montenegro's separation is a sad reality for me," said Milos Aligrudic of Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia.
He added: "I urge you that we continue considering all the people who live in Montenegro as our brothers and not to have hard feelings towards them."
The move by Montenegro, sandwiched between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea with a population of just 650,000, ended the painful, 15-year dissolution of former communist Yugoslavia, after Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia went their separate ways in the early 1990s.
Yugoslavia has existed in three separate forms during the 20th century.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created in 1918, was renamed as Yugoslavia in 1929 and existed in that form until it was invaded in 1941.
A communist Yugoslavia emerged after the end of World War II in 1945, but it, too, crumbled amid conflict in the early 1990s.
Federal Yugoslavia then came into being, although it was effectively just Serbia and Montenegro, and that union was renamed as a federation in 2003 when the name Yugoslavia was discarded.
Under the constitution of Serbia-Montenegro, Serbia inherits its membership in the United Nations and all other international and financial organizations.
The former union's ambassadors would now represent solely Serbia, Beta news agency reported, quoting foreign ministry officials.
Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party -- the biggest group in parliament -- said he was "really sorry that Montenegro, with enormous help from the European Union, gained so-called independence and many members of our people were left out of our borders."
It was under EU pressure that Serbia and Montenegro formed their union with the proviso that each republic could leave the federation if that was the wish of their majority.
Brussels also helped Podgorica's push for a referendum -- stipulating, for instance, the minimum 55-percent threshold for the vote to be validated -- and persuaded all sides to accept the result.
"It is not the time for sorrow," said Dusan Petrovic, of Serbia's opposition Democratic Party. "The citizens of Montenegro decided to live separately from Serbia ... I congratulate them.
After Monday's ceremonies, the flags of Serbia-Montenegro will be sent to a museum, officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060605/ts_afp/serbiamontenegropolitics_060605143411
Left alone, Serbia declares its independence too
by Filip RodicMon Jun 5, 10:39 AM ET
Serbia sealed the final act of Yugoslavia's turbulent history when it proclaimed independence after Montenegro, its last ally, abandoned its formal 88-year association with Belgrade.
After an extraordinary session of parliament, officials lowered the flag of the defunct federation of Serbia and Montenegro from the building in Belgrade and raised the Serbian standard in its place.
Lawmakers proclaimed independence before transferring solely onto Belgrade the international status of the federation, including its seat on bodies such as the United Nations.
Serbian President Boris Tadic wrote to Svetozar Marovic, a Montenegrin who had headed the federation, saying he considered the break-up to be a "personal loss."
But he insisted that he was "ready to lead my country along democratic and European path that would bring better life to its citizens."
Serbia effectively became a sovereign state after all 126 deputies present in the 250-seat assembly backed an order to the government and state bodies to complete all formalities about the succession and resolve all disputed issues with Montenegro within next 45 days.
It follows Montenegro's own formal independence declaration Saturday after the tiny Balkan state voted on May 21 to secede from the union that had bound together the last remnants of the former Yugoslavia.
Neither Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica nor Tadic was present as deputies gathered in gloomy mood.
"Montenegro's separation is a sad reality for me," said Milos Aligrudic of Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia.
He added: "I urge you that we continue considering all the people who live in Montenegro as our brothers and not to have hard feelings towards them."
The move by Montenegro, sandwiched between the mountains and the Adriatic Sea with a population of just 650,000, ended the painful, 15-year dissolution of former communist Yugoslavia, after Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia went their separate ways in the early 1990s.
Yugoslavia has existed in three separate forms during the 20th century.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, created in 1918, was renamed as Yugoslavia in 1929 and existed in that form until it was invaded in 1941.
A communist Yugoslavia emerged after the end of World War II in 1945, but it, too, crumbled amid conflict in the early 1990s.
Federal Yugoslavia then came into being, although it was effectively just Serbia and Montenegro, and that union was renamed as a federation in 2003 when the name Yugoslavia was discarded.
Under the constitution of Serbia-Montenegro, Serbia inherits its membership in the United Nations and all other international and financial organizations.
The former union's ambassadors would now represent solely Serbia, Beta news agency reported, quoting foreign ministry officials.
Tomislav Nikolic, leader of the ultra-nationalist Serbian Radical Party -- the biggest group in parliament -- said he was "really sorry that Montenegro, with enormous help from the European Union, gained so-called independence and many members of our people were left out of our borders."
It was under EU pressure that Serbia and Montenegro formed their union with the proviso that each republic could leave the federation if that was the wish of their majority.
Brussels also helped Podgorica's push for a referendum -- stipulating, for instance, the minimum 55-percent threshold for the vote to be validated -- and persuaded all sides to accept the result.
"It is not the time for sorrow," said Dusan Petrovic, of Serbia's opposition Democratic Party. "The citizens of Montenegro decided to live separately from Serbia ... I congratulate them.
After Monday's ceremonies, the flags of Serbia-Montenegro will be sent to a museum, officials said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060605/ts_afp/serbiamontenegropolitics_060605143411
Thursday, June 01, 2006
And, of course, this doesn't help the situation much, either.
US again suspends some aid to Serbia over Mladic
Thu Jun 1, 5:45 AM ET
The United States has suspended some aid to Serbia's government for the fourth year in succession over its failure to arrest and extradite Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.
The cut-off of $7 million in government-to-government aid is not so much a financial penalty as a political gesture, since Washington will continue to provide much more in economic assistance to the Serbs.
It follows a decision by the European Union in early May to suspend talks on closer ties with Serbia after it missed the latest in a string of deadlines to hand over Mladic.
A statement from the U.S. embassy in Belgrade said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been unable to certify to Congress that Belgrade was cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, which indicted the wartime Bosnian Serb military commander with genocide in 1995.
"This decision will result in the withholding of $7 million in assistance specifically to the central government of Serbia for the year 2006/2007, as required by U.S. law," Ambassador Michael Polt said in a statement.
Polt said Washington would go on sending more than $62 million in aid "to the people of this country in an effort to see your economy develop and provide jobs and hope for its citizens."
"I do not want the people of Serbia to suffer any longer for the sake of fugitive indictees," he said.
"It is time for the government of Serbia to make the right decision, to deliver Mladic to The Hague, and to free its citizens from this dark chapter of their past."
Mladic is charged alongside Bosnian Serb former leader Radovan Karadzic with genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys and the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo which killed about 10,000 civilians.
U.N. chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte says he is hiding in Serbia with the help of army and intelligence hardliners.
Serbia admits Mladic had such help in the past but Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica now says he has gone to ground.
A flurry of reports forecasting Mladic's imminent arrest dominated headlines in the run-up to the May 1 EU deadline, but the speculation has since died down.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060601/ts_nm/serbiamontenegro_usa_aid_dc_1
US again suspends some aid to Serbia over Mladic
Thu Jun 1, 5:45 AM ET
The United States has suspended some aid to Serbia's government for the fourth year in succession over its failure to arrest and extradite Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic.
The cut-off of $7 million in government-to-government aid is not so much a financial penalty as a political gesture, since Washington will continue to provide much more in economic assistance to the Serbs.
It follows a decision by the European Union in early May to suspend talks on closer ties with Serbia after it missed the latest in a string of deadlines to hand over Mladic.
A statement from the U.S. embassy in Belgrade said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had been unable to certify to Congress that Belgrade was cooperating with the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague, which indicted the wartime Bosnian Serb military commander with genocide in 1995.
"This decision will result in the withholding of $7 million in assistance specifically to the central government of Serbia for the year 2006/2007, as required by U.S. law," Ambassador Michael Polt said in a statement.
Polt said Washington would go on sending more than $62 million in aid "to the people of this country in an effort to see your economy develop and provide jobs and hope for its citizens."
"I do not want the people of Serbia to suffer any longer for the sake of fugitive indictees," he said.
"It is time for the government of Serbia to make the right decision, to deliver Mladic to The Hague, and to free its citizens from this dark chapter of their past."
Mladic is charged alongside Bosnian Serb former leader Radovan Karadzic with genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys and the 1992-95 siege of Sarajevo which killed about 10,000 civilians.
U.N. chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte says he is hiding in Serbia with the help of army and intelligence hardliners.
Serbia admits Mladic had such help in the past but Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica now says he has gone to ground.
A flurry of reports forecasting Mladic's imminent arrest dominated headlines in the run-up to the May 1 EU deadline, but the speculation has since died down.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060601/ts_nm/serbiamontenegro_usa_aid_dc_1
I found this earlier in the month. Funny, why aren't these guys being called backward nationalists and being kept out of the EU?
Croatia champs aid Hague suspects
By Nick Hawton BBC News, Zagreb
Croatia's football champions are to donate proceeds from their last league match of the season to help Croatian war crimes suspects at The Hague.
Dinamo Zagreb's Maksimir stadium was filled to its 45,000 capacity, after the club urged as many fans as possible to attend Saturday's game.
They saw the team complete a convincing win of the league championship.
Croatia's most notable defendant in The Hague is ex-Gen Ante Gotovina - accused of atrocities against Serbs in 1995.
Prominent individuals and institutions in Croatia have expressed support for Croatian war crime suspects - but perhaps not in such a public way.
Riot film
The team beat rivals Hadjuk Split 1-0.
Before the game a short film was shown marking the 16th anniversary of the infamous football riot which took place between Serbian and Croatian fans in May 1990 and which many still see as a symbol of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
For Saturday's game Dinamo's coach had appealed for as many fans as possible to attend the match.
The club announced that all the money received was being given to the Foundation for the Truth about the Homeland War, which raises money to support Croats facing trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Many of the fans attending the game said they had come merely to watch their team celebrate winning the championship and did not care where their money was going.
The most notable beneficiary is likely to be Gen Gotovina, who until his arrest at the end of last year was one of The Hague's most wanted war crimes suspects.
Defendants in The Hague receive support in varying amounts from their home governments as well as donations from individuals.
Prosecutors at The Hague have refused to comment on Dinamo's plans, saying it is a private matter.
But the decision by Dinamo Zagreb shows that there is still popular support for former soldiers facing trial in The Hague.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4768605.stmPublished: 2006/05/13 20:20:14 GMT© BBC MMVI
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4768605.stm
Croatia champs aid Hague suspects
By Nick Hawton BBC News, Zagreb
Croatia's football champions are to donate proceeds from their last league match of the season to help Croatian war crimes suspects at The Hague.
Dinamo Zagreb's Maksimir stadium was filled to its 45,000 capacity, after the club urged as many fans as possible to attend Saturday's game.
They saw the team complete a convincing win of the league championship.
Croatia's most notable defendant in The Hague is ex-Gen Ante Gotovina - accused of atrocities against Serbs in 1995.
Prominent individuals and institutions in Croatia have expressed support for Croatian war crime suspects - but perhaps not in such a public way.
Riot film
The team beat rivals Hadjuk Split 1-0.
Before the game a short film was shown marking the 16th anniversary of the infamous football riot which took place between Serbian and Croatian fans in May 1990 and which many still see as a symbol of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia.
For Saturday's game Dinamo's coach had appealed for as many fans as possible to attend the match.
The club announced that all the money received was being given to the Foundation for the Truth about the Homeland War, which raises money to support Croats facing trial at the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
Many of the fans attending the game said they had come merely to watch their team celebrate winning the championship and did not care where their money was going.
The most notable beneficiary is likely to be Gen Gotovina, who until his arrest at the end of last year was one of The Hague's most wanted war crimes suspects.
Defendants in The Hague receive support in varying amounts from their home governments as well as donations from individuals.
Prosecutors at The Hague have refused to comment on Dinamo's plans, saying it is a private matter.
But the decision by Dinamo Zagreb shows that there is still popular support for former soldiers facing trial in The Hague.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/europe/4768605.stmPublished: 2006/05/13 20:20:14 GMT© BBC MMVI
http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4768605.stm
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Call for Bosnia Serb referendum
By Neil MacDonald Published: May 30 2006 03:00 Last updated: May 30 2006 03:00
In the wake of Montenegro's vote to separate from Serbia, the prime minister of the ethnic-Serb mini-state inside neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina says his republic should also be allowed to hold a referendum for independence. Milorad Dodik said the Serb republic, which takes up almost half of Bosnia-Herzegovina's territory, should form a two-part "federal union" with the patchwork federation of Croat and Bosniak-Muslim cantons that cover the rest. This way, Bosnian Serbs could break away peacefully, just as Montenegrins have chosen to do from Serbia, he argued. But the republic Mr Dodik leads from the northern city of Banja Luka had no prior existence until ethnic-Serb soldiers and militiamen carved it out through intimidation and mass murder against the other two ethnic groups during the 1992-95 war.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4e8e7a72-ef79-11da-b435-0000779e2340.html
By Neil MacDonald Published: May 30 2006 03:00 Last updated: May 30 2006 03:00
In the wake of Montenegro's vote to separate from Serbia, the prime minister of the ethnic-Serb mini-state inside neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina says his republic should also be allowed to hold a referendum for independence. Milorad Dodik said the Serb republic, which takes up almost half of Bosnia-Herzegovina's territory, should form a two-part "federal union" with the patchwork federation of Croat and Bosniak-Muslim cantons that cover the rest. This way, Bosnian Serbs could break away peacefully, just as Montenegrins have chosen to do from Serbia, he argued. But the republic Mr Dodik leads from the northern city of Banja Luka had no prior existence until ethnic-Serb soldiers and militiamen carved it out through intimidation and mass murder against the other two ethnic groups during the 1992-95 war.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4e8e7a72-ef79-11da-b435-0000779e2340.html
Good gravy, now anyone who doesn't criticize the Serbs is going to be persecuted! Better watch out....
German politicians to block prize for Milosevic sympathizer
1 hour, 45 minutes ago
German politicians said they would not allow an important literature prize to go to Austrian writer Peter Handke because of his Serbian nationalist sympathies.
The coalition heading the city council in Duesseldorf, western Germany, plans next week to vote down a decision to give Handke the Heinrich Heine prize, according to Greens member of the council, Karin Trepke.
Handke was named as the winner by a jury last week but the council, which gives the prize money of 50,000 euros (64,000 dollars), must approve their decision.
The move to honour Handke came just a month after France's foremost theater company decided not to stage one of his plays because of a eulogy he delivered for late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The renowned Austrian writer paid tribute to Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president and alleged war criminal who died earlier this year, as "a man who defended his people".
It has sparked a heated debate in Germany.
The leader of the Greens in the federal parliament, Fritz Kuhn, has said it was a "scandal" to give the prize to Handke and a slap in the face of those who suffered under Milosevic.
The Social Democrats, which is part of Germany's ruling coalition, have agreed.
The administrator of the Paris theater Comedie Francaise, Marcel Bozonnet, cancelled the 2007 season of the Handke play "Voyage to the Sonorous Land or the Art of Asking" in response to the author's eulogy.
Bozonnet's decision was condemned in art circles in France, where Handke lives, and farther afield, including by German publishing house Suhrkamp and one of Berlin's foremost theaters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060530/en_afp/afpentertainment_060530152002
German politicians to block prize for Milosevic sympathizer
1 hour, 45 minutes ago
German politicians said they would not allow an important literature prize to go to Austrian writer Peter Handke because of his Serbian nationalist sympathies.
The coalition heading the city council in Duesseldorf, western Germany, plans next week to vote down a decision to give Handke the Heinrich Heine prize, according to Greens member of the council, Karin Trepke.
Handke was named as the winner by a jury last week but the council, which gives the prize money of 50,000 euros (64,000 dollars), must approve their decision.
The move to honour Handke came just a month after France's foremost theater company decided not to stage one of his plays because of a eulogy he delivered for late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
The renowned Austrian writer paid tribute to Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president and alleged war criminal who died earlier this year, as "a man who defended his people".
It has sparked a heated debate in Germany.
The leader of the Greens in the federal parliament, Fritz Kuhn, has said it was a "scandal" to give the prize to Handke and a slap in the face of those who suffered under Milosevic.
The Social Democrats, which is part of Germany's ruling coalition, have agreed.
The administrator of the Paris theater Comedie Francaise, Marcel Bozonnet, cancelled the 2007 season of the Handke play "Voyage to the Sonorous Land or the Art of Asking" in response to the author's eulogy.
Bozonnet's decision was condemned in art circles in France, where Handke lives, and farther afield, including by German publishing house Suhrkamp and one of Berlin's foremost theaters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060530/en_afp/afpentertainment_060530152002
Independence for Kosovo means trouble, Serbia says
By Douglas HamiltonTue May 30, 11:21 AM ET
Granting independence to Serbia's southern province of Kosovo against the will of Serbia would destabilize the Balkans, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic warned on Tuesday.
The United Nations is mediating talks on Kosovo's future status, which Western diplomats say are likely to conclude with a form of independence by the end of the year. Serbia is adamantly opposed to such an outcome.
"I am very afraid of the possible imposed solution against the will of Belgrade of turning Kosovo into a state," Draskovic told a news conference. "The whole region would inevitably face turbulence."
The warning comes in the wake of Montenegro's vote on May 21 to end its union with Serbia, which the European Union last year opposed, fearing further fragmentation in the Balkans.
On Monday there were signs its fears were not unjustified. Serb nationalists seeking independence for the Bosnian Serb republic from Bosnia said the Montenegro referendum was a precedent and possible template for their own campaign.
The demand was quickly rejected by Western officials, who warned that major powers would not tolerate any threat to Bosnia's integrity as a state. Bosnian Serb premier Milorad Dodik was chastised for seeming to consider the idea.
NO LEGAL PARALLEL
Legally, the cases of Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Bosnian Serb Republic are different.
Montenegro's vote for independence dissolved what was left of Yugoslavia, destroyed by war in the 1990s. Montenegro was one of six federal republics with a legal right to secession, which it retained in the looser Serbia-Montenegro union that was formed with EU encouragement in 2003.
If nationalist feelings were aroused, Draskovic warned, the legal distinctions might be ignored.
Dodik's office on Tuesday again blamed the media for playing up remarks by him linking Kosovo and the Bosnian Serb Republic. An aide it was a "theoretical" comment and the issue was closed.
But after talks with the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency in Sarajevo on Monday, it was the turn of Kosovo Serb leader Milan Ivanovic to insist there was a clear parallel.
"How can a national minority be given the right to self-determination but a 'constituent people' a solution which is less than that?" Ivanovic demanded, referring to the Albanians of Kosovo versus the Serbs of Bosnia.
Kosovo has been policed by NATO's largest peacekeeping force and run by the United Nations since 1999, when a bombing war by the alliance drove Serb forces out to halt killings and ethnic cleansing by Serbs in their war against Albanian separatists.
Its population of 2 million is 90 percent Albanian. They are impatient after years in limbo and want independence this year.
Serbia is offering Kosovo Albanians a 20-year deal under which it would retain control over foreign policy, borders and customs, human rights, monetary policy and religious sites.
Western diplomats say the Serbian government is in denial, unable or unwilling to grasp the realities of the Kosovo situation and the will of 90 percent of its people.
But Draskovic said granting independence could bring ultranationalists to power and turn Serbia against the EU.
"The European lights in Serbia may be extinguished only by a forcible decision to declare an internationally recognized state of Kosovo within ... the borders of Serbia," he said.
Creating "yet another Albanian state in the Balkans" was a dangerous scenario that Serbia hopes will be "thwarted" at the last minute, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060530/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_kosovo_dc_2
By Douglas HamiltonTue May 30, 11:21 AM ET
Granting independence to Serbia's southern province of Kosovo against the will of Serbia would destabilize the Balkans, Serbia-Montenegro Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic warned on Tuesday.
The United Nations is mediating talks on Kosovo's future status, which Western diplomats say are likely to conclude with a form of independence by the end of the year. Serbia is adamantly opposed to such an outcome.
"I am very afraid of the possible imposed solution against the will of Belgrade of turning Kosovo into a state," Draskovic told a news conference. "The whole region would inevitably face turbulence."
The warning comes in the wake of Montenegro's vote on May 21 to end its union with Serbia, which the European Union last year opposed, fearing further fragmentation in the Balkans.
On Monday there were signs its fears were not unjustified. Serb nationalists seeking independence for the Bosnian Serb republic from Bosnia said the Montenegro referendum was a precedent and possible template for their own campaign.
The demand was quickly rejected by Western officials, who warned that major powers would not tolerate any threat to Bosnia's integrity as a state. Bosnian Serb premier Milorad Dodik was chastised for seeming to consider the idea.
NO LEGAL PARALLEL
Legally, the cases of Kosovo, Montenegro, and the Bosnian Serb Republic are different.
Montenegro's vote for independence dissolved what was left of Yugoslavia, destroyed by war in the 1990s. Montenegro was one of six federal republics with a legal right to secession, which it retained in the looser Serbia-Montenegro union that was formed with EU encouragement in 2003.
If nationalist feelings were aroused, Draskovic warned, the legal distinctions might be ignored.
Dodik's office on Tuesday again blamed the media for playing up remarks by him linking Kosovo and the Bosnian Serb Republic. An aide it was a "theoretical" comment and the issue was closed.
But after talks with the Serb member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency in Sarajevo on Monday, it was the turn of Kosovo Serb leader Milan Ivanovic to insist there was a clear parallel.
"How can a national minority be given the right to self-determination but a 'constituent people' a solution which is less than that?" Ivanovic demanded, referring to the Albanians of Kosovo versus the Serbs of Bosnia.
Kosovo has been policed by NATO's largest peacekeeping force and run by the United Nations since 1999, when a bombing war by the alliance drove Serb forces out to halt killings and ethnic cleansing by Serbs in their war against Albanian separatists.
Its population of 2 million is 90 percent Albanian. They are impatient after years in limbo and want independence this year.
Serbia is offering Kosovo Albanians a 20-year deal under which it would retain control over foreign policy, borders and customs, human rights, monetary policy and religious sites.
Western diplomats say the Serbian government is in denial, unable or unwilling to grasp the realities of the Kosovo situation and the will of 90 percent of its people.
But Draskovic said granting independence could bring ultranationalists to power and turn Serbia against the EU.
"The European lights in Serbia may be extinguished only by a forcible decision to declare an internationally recognized state of Kosovo within ... the borders of Serbia," he said.
Creating "yet another Albanian state in the Balkans" was a dangerous scenario that Serbia hopes will be "thwarted" at the last minute, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060530/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_kosovo_dc_2
Monday, May 22, 2006
Montenegro voted by a slim margin to secede from Serbia and form a separate nation, erasing the last vestiges of the former Yugoslavia, according to the results Monday of its referendum.
With nearly all ballots counted, 55.4 percent of voters chose to dissolve Montenegro's 88-year union with its much larger and sometimes overbearing Balkan neighbor. That is just over the 55 percent threshold needed to validate Sunday's referendum under rules set by the European Union.
The pro-Serb camp in Montenegro demanded a recount. "The preliminary results of the referendum process should be double-checked and ballots from all the polling stations should be recounted," said a statement signed by four main leaders of the unionist bloc.
Hours before the official results were announced, independence supporters flooded streets of the capital Podgorica and other towns, even though their victory did not appear at all certain at that point.
"I congratulate you on your state," said the pro-independence prime minister, Milo Djukanovic. "Today, the citizens of Montenegro voted to restore their statehood."
In Podgorica, people fired celebratory shots in the air and drove up and down the main street, honking and waving the eagle-emblazoned flag used when Montenegro last enjoyed independence, from 1878-1918.
In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, officials urged calm. Ethnic Serbs make up 30 percent of the population and many strongly oppose separation from Serbia. Serbia did not want separation, but has said it will respect the decision.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060522/ap_on_re_eu/montenegro_referendum_11
With nearly all ballots counted, 55.4 percent of voters chose to dissolve Montenegro's 88-year union with its much larger and sometimes overbearing Balkan neighbor. That is just over the 55 percent threshold needed to validate Sunday's referendum under rules set by the European Union.
The pro-Serb camp in Montenegro demanded a recount. "The preliminary results of the referendum process should be double-checked and ballots from all the polling stations should be recounted," said a statement signed by four main leaders of the unionist bloc.
Hours before the official results were announced, independence supporters flooded streets of the capital Podgorica and other towns, even though their victory did not appear at all certain at that point.
"I congratulate you on your state," said the pro-independence prime minister, Milo Djukanovic. "Today, the citizens of Montenegro voted to restore their statehood."
In Podgorica, people fired celebratory shots in the air and drove up and down the main street, honking and waving the eagle-emblazoned flag used when Montenegro last enjoyed independence, from 1878-1918.
In Belgrade, the Serbian capital, officials urged calm. Ethnic Serbs make up 30 percent of the population and many strongly oppose separation from Serbia. Serbia did not want separation, but has said it will respect the decision.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060522/ap_on_re_eu/montenegro_referendum_11
Friday, May 12, 2006
FINALLY, a voice of reason--and from the NYT, of all places....the whole editorial is excellent, so here it is. I just hope someone listens to this man.
May 12, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Why Insist on the Surrender of Ratko Mladic?
By TIMOTHY WILLIAM WATERS
I DON'T think Europe should insist on arresting Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of war crimes. That's hardly the side of the debate one wants to be assigned, because General Mladic — described as the engineer of ethnic cleansing at Srebrenica and Sarajevo in the 1990's — should be arrested and handed over to the United Nations' war crimes tribunal. But why might it not be a good idea for Europe to insist on it?
There are good arguments for linking Serbia's entry into the European Union to General Mladic's arrest, but the union isn't making them. Instead of having an open-eyed debate about the benefits and costs of arrest, Europe is making three lazy assumptions about the role of international justice in transforming societies.
The first is that arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. But try this out: not arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. The difference is who pays. If Europe wants integration, it could help Serbia make progress on reforms by not insisting on linkage.
Linkage might compel General Mladic's arrest and jump-start normal politics in Serbia, but it also risks backlash and delay; in fact, talks have now been suspended. How important is General Mladic's arrest balanced against the integration of 8 million people in a region that badly needs stability? Against the decisions that must be made regarding independence and constitutional reform in Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia, in which Serbia's role is critical? It is possible that insisting on "Mladic or bust" will make bust more likely.
The second assumption: General Mladic's arrest is necessary to prove that Serbia is serious about transforming itself. But is extracting General Mladic under pressure going to change Serbian values?
Rather than linking talks to one arrest, the European Union should ask if a deeply brutalized society like Serbia's is a worthy partner for integration, regardless of the disposition of any one war criminal. Making General Mladic a totem for what Europe really needs — Serbia's transformation — stunts the union's ability to understand and encourage that process.
Fixation on General Mladic is of a piece with the naïve thinking behind much Western foreign policy from the Balkans to Baghdad. Similarly optimistic claims were made when former President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested, but five years later, Serbia's politics still haven't advanced enough. Oh — maybe that's because we haven't gotten General Mladic.
Then there are the advantages to not insisting. Negotiated reforms could begin in earnest, and integration might make the Serbs eventually turn their backs on General Mladic and what he represents. How much better for reconciliation if the Serbs spit out General Mladic on their own, in shame and disgust, not because they see his surrender to The Hague as the only way to get their hands on 30 euros of silver.
A third assumption underlies the other two: that Europe's demands are natural and uncontroversial and only recalcitrant Serbian nationalists don't get it.
But denying the discretionary nature of these demands stifles debate about real costs. Europe claims that it is Serbia that is choosing isolation and stagnation, but these costs are determined by Europe. For reasons most Europeans do not agree with, General Mladic's arrest is controversial in a Serbia otherwise eager to integrate. Is one war criminal's arrest really worth pushing Serbia back into the dark? There's no easy formula for deciding where to draw the line, but the calculation is not helped by soporifically pious pronouncements about the necessity of linking a nation's fate to one man's, nor by pretending that Europe is not imposing the terms, however just.
Serbia's integration into Europe is vital, and that is precisely why Europe needs a rational debate about what it should and should not ask of Serbia. The effect of the present policy is uncertain: Serbia's normalization might be set back by General Mladic's arrest or, as has now happened, by a too hasty insistence on it by outsiders. Precisely because Serbia's integration is vital, both to Serbia and to Europe, Europe should consider if it really must be delayed.
The mania for General Mladic partly comes of our need for a war criminal because the last one, Mr. Milosevic, so recently and inconveniently died. General Mladic's arrest had already been on the agenda, but the chief Balkan butcher's departure added a certain frisson to calls for the next-worst-thing's incarceration. It's not clear what that has to do with changing Serbia, but it's worth asking what we want General Mladic for.
Because we want a war criminal, badly. And it doesn't matter what it might cost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/opinion/12waters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
May 12, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Why Insist on the Surrender of Ratko Mladic?
By TIMOTHY WILLIAM WATERS
I DON'T think Europe should insist on arresting Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of war crimes. That's hardly the side of the debate one wants to be assigned, because General Mladic — described as the engineer of ethnic cleansing at Srebrenica and Sarajevo in the 1990's — should be arrested and handed over to the United Nations' war crimes tribunal. But why might it not be a good idea for Europe to insist on it?
There are good arguments for linking Serbia's entry into the European Union to General Mladic's arrest, but the union isn't making them. Instead of having an open-eyed debate about the benefits and costs of arrest, Europe is making three lazy assumptions about the role of international justice in transforming societies.
The first is that arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. But try this out: not arresting a war criminal is a small price to pay for European integration. The difference is who pays. If Europe wants integration, it could help Serbia make progress on reforms by not insisting on linkage.
Linkage might compel General Mladic's arrest and jump-start normal politics in Serbia, but it also risks backlash and delay; in fact, talks have now been suspended. How important is General Mladic's arrest balanced against the integration of 8 million people in a region that badly needs stability? Against the decisions that must be made regarding independence and constitutional reform in Montenegro, Kosovo and Bosnia, in which Serbia's role is critical? It is possible that insisting on "Mladic or bust" will make bust more likely.
The second assumption: General Mladic's arrest is necessary to prove that Serbia is serious about transforming itself. But is extracting General Mladic under pressure going to change Serbian values?
Rather than linking talks to one arrest, the European Union should ask if a deeply brutalized society like Serbia's is a worthy partner for integration, regardless of the disposition of any one war criminal. Making General Mladic a totem for what Europe really needs — Serbia's transformation — stunts the union's ability to understand and encourage that process.
Fixation on General Mladic is of a piece with the naïve thinking behind much Western foreign policy from the Balkans to Baghdad. Similarly optimistic claims were made when former President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested, but five years later, Serbia's politics still haven't advanced enough. Oh — maybe that's because we haven't gotten General Mladic.
Then there are the advantages to not insisting. Negotiated reforms could begin in earnest, and integration might make the Serbs eventually turn their backs on General Mladic and what he represents. How much better for reconciliation if the Serbs spit out General Mladic on their own, in shame and disgust, not because they see his surrender to The Hague as the only way to get their hands on 30 euros of silver.
A third assumption underlies the other two: that Europe's demands are natural and uncontroversial and only recalcitrant Serbian nationalists don't get it.
But denying the discretionary nature of these demands stifles debate about real costs. Europe claims that it is Serbia that is choosing isolation and stagnation, but these costs are determined by Europe. For reasons most Europeans do not agree with, General Mladic's arrest is controversial in a Serbia otherwise eager to integrate. Is one war criminal's arrest really worth pushing Serbia back into the dark? There's no easy formula for deciding where to draw the line, but the calculation is not helped by soporifically pious pronouncements about the necessity of linking a nation's fate to one man's, nor by pretending that Europe is not imposing the terms, however just.
Serbia's integration into Europe is vital, and that is precisely why Europe needs a rational debate about what it should and should not ask of Serbia. The effect of the present policy is uncertain: Serbia's normalization might be set back by General Mladic's arrest or, as has now happened, by a too hasty insistence on it by outsiders. Precisely because Serbia's integration is vital, both to Serbia and to Europe, Europe should consider if it really must be delayed.
The mania for General Mladic partly comes of our need for a war criminal because the last one, Mr. Milosevic, so recently and inconveniently died. General Mladic's arrest had already been on the agenda, but the chief Balkan butcher's departure added a certain frisson to calls for the next-worst-thing's incarceration. It's not clear what that has to do with changing Serbia, but it's worth asking what we want General Mladic for.
Because we want a war criminal, badly. And it doesn't matter what it might cost.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/opinion/12waters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
And what does SHE have to say about all this? Hasn't this court already been cited for being ineffective its own wonderful self?
Speaking after being briefed by telephone by chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said her assessment was negative.
"It is disappointing that Belgrade has been unable to locate, arrest and transfer Ratko Mladic to the Hague," Rehn said. "The Commission therefore has to call off the negotiations on the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
Del Ponte said Serbia had misled her.
"The obvious conclusion is that I have been misled when I was told at the end of March that the arrest of Mladic was a matter of days or weeks," Del Ponte told a news conference.
If you can do better, come and try, why don' you, C? You seem to have all the answers from up there in the Hague....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060503/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_eu_dc_4
Speaking after being briefed by telephone by chief U.N. war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said her assessment was negative.
"It is disappointing that Belgrade has been unable to locate, arrest and transfer Ratko Mladic to the Hague," Rehn said. "The Commission therefore has to call off the negotiations on the Stabilization and Association Agreement.
Del Ponte said Serbia had misled her.
"The obvious conclusion is that I have been misled when I was told at the end of March that the arrest of Mladic was a matter of days or weeks," Del Ponte told a news conference.
If you can do better, come and try, why don' you, C? You seem to have all the answers from up there in the Hague....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060503/wl_nm/serbiamontenegro_eu_dc_4
Here we go again....of course, this issue makes the NYT. Other stuff isn't important; only that information which reinforces how "bad" the "Serbs" are....
Europe Cancels Talks With Serbia Over Fugitive
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: May 3, 2006
The European Union called off negotiations today on closer ties with Serbia because it failed to find, arrest and transfer the former military chief Ratko Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
"This issue is about the rule of law," Olli Rehn, enlargement commissioner for the European Union, said in a statement. "Serbia must show that nobody is above the law, and that anyone indicted for serious crimes will face justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/world/europe/03cnd-serbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Europe Cancels Talks With Serbia Over Fugitive
By CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: May 3, 2006
The European Union called off negotiations today on closer ties with Serbia because it failed to find, arrest and transfer the former military chief Ratko Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
"This issue is about the rule of law," Olli Rehn, enlargement commissioner for the European Union, said in a statement. "Serbia must show that nobody is above the law, and that anyone indicted for serious crimes will face justice.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/world/europe/03cnd-serbia.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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