SERBIA: After enduring two weeks of fierce criticism from Western diplomats for failing to catch war crimes suspects, Serbia is hoping for a favourable hearing from the European Union today after handing over a commander accused of genocide writes Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest.
The United Nations tribunal at The Hague took custody of Col Ljubisa Beara yesterday, after he gave himself up to Serb authorities to face charges of involvement in Europe's worst civilian massacre since the second World War Two, at Srebrenica in 1995.
Col Beara (65) was sought for alleged involvement in the massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town, where the forces of Gen Ratko Mladic overran a lightly armed Dutch battalion assigned to guard the so-called safe haven.
Col Beara's 2002 indictment accuses troops under his command of hundreds of other murders, including the decapitation of dozens of Muslim boys in the town of Potocari in 1995, and the forced transfer of tens of thousands of women and children.
His handover came on the eve of a report to EU foreign ministers by Ms Carla del Ponte, the UN's chief war crimes prosecutor, on Belgrade's co-operation with the tribunal.
A positive report could help launch a long-delayed EU feasibility study for a Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia and Montenegro, which is seen as the first step towards eventual EU membership.
"This is extremely good and timely news and we think the rest of the indicted war criminals should follow his example," Ms Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana, said of Col Beara's surrender.
The Belgrade government said he had surrendered "to protect the interests of the state and those of his family".
A succession of senior diplomats, including Mr Solana and US State Department officials, have visited Belgrade in the last fortnight to warn of dire consequences for its failure to catch Gen Mladic and other prominent war crimes suspects.
The issue has also deepened a rift between pro-Western President Boris Tadic and nationalist Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica. Mr Tadic wants quick arrests to save Serbia and Montenegro from international isolation, while his opponent says suspects should be tried in Belgrade rather than The Hague.