...if it gives up its war criminals.
Serbia has an appointment with the EU. The country wishes to join the Economic Community but is apparently refusing to assist with the arrests of two war criminals namely Ratco Mladic and Radovan Karadzic. The EU is getting itchy about this situation but they are not ruling Serbia totally out of eligibility to join--they are simply putting roadblocks in place. Conditionality of membership hinges on these criminals being handed over to the Hague. The Times of London reports that " The stepping up of pressure on Serbia at the two different UN bodies at the Hague ---The International Court of Justice and the war crimes tribunal--contrasts with the EU's lack of definitive action."
Personally, I agree. The EU is namby-pambying about the matter and should be far more forceful in its actions. The EU is being far too conservative (as usual), in its stance. It is seen as urging Serbia to co-operate rather than saying: "You will co-operate!"
I do not understand this "softly-softly" approach . I know that the EU believes Serbia "may" stabilise if it joins the Union but that is not going to work.
Why not? Because Serbian Nationalists consider Mladic and Karadzic as national heroes. Ergo, the Serbs remain racists and war -mongerers? It seems that way. What the truth is I cannot tell, but I suspect/know that there is a large "mafia" of Serbs who are protecting these heroes (they were indicted in 1995 as War Criminals).
The Serbs must realise that they cannot have their cake and eat it. They must must hand over these two heinous criminals before they can expect their apples to sell in Holland!
I had hoped that the words "War Criminal" had died in 1945 but it seems that man is once again proving that he is, at times, nothing more than an animal.