Tuesday, May 11, that handing over suspects to the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague or forget about European Union membership. Speaking after a meeting with Serbia and Montenegros Deputy Foreign Minister (Predrag Boskovic) Patten said that compliance with the U.N. court is a key condition for E-U membership.
He said he had told Serbian officials that they must choose between supporting those who are accused of war crimes or walking on the path to joining the E-U." The President of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic said earlier they were working on the extradition of top war crimes suspects to The Hague. Marovic told The Associated Press news agency that include Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, who has been accused of involvement in Europes worst massacre since World War Two.
MOST WANTED GENERALS
Also on The Hague’s most wanted list are four Serb generals (Nebojsa Pavkovic, Vladimir Lazarevic, Sreten Lukic and Vlastimir Djordjevic) who lead Serb troops in Kosovo during a 1998-1999 crackdown against independence-seeking ethnic Albanians Yet the recently elected Prime Minister of Serbia, Vojislav Kostunica, has said extraditing Serb inductees to The Hague is not one of his priorities.
Commissioner Patten made clear however that whether Serbia and Montenegro "joins the European family was now in the hands of the political leaders."
He also stressed earlier in Kosovo province the need to overcome ethnic tensions after a decade of Balkan wars ahead of status talks on the future of the Serbian province.
Patten urged the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo to extend friendship and tolerance to the Serbian minority in order to create a European-like community.
At least 19 people were killed in March during the bloodiest ethnic clashes since Kosovo came under United Nations administration in 1999, and dozens of Serb Orthodox churches and other religious sites were completely destroyed or damaged.
