The impending hand-over of former president, Mr Slobodan Milosevic, to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) marks a very important step in Yugoslavia's reintegration to the international community. A decree allowing the transfer of suspects to The Hague was issued on Saturday and came into effect yesterday afternoon. Sources in Belgrade have made it clear the new law will be applied swiftly to Mr Milosevic.
When he does arrive in Holland, Mr Milosevic will become Detainee Number 39 at the ICTY's detention centre at the seaside resort of Scheveningen. Many faces there will be familiar to him. He will join Bosnian Serb general, Radislav Krstic; the only woman suspect, former Bosnian Serb President, Biljana Plavsic; and former speaker of the Bosnian Serb Parliament, Momcillo Krajisnik - all of whom are already in ICTY detention.
There are others who will not make him welcome and his presence may necessitate a change in the rules by which detainees are not ethnically segregated. At present Serb, Croat and Bosnian-Muslim detainees mix freely together and it would be ironic in the extreme if Mr Milosevic's arrival brought to Scheveningen the type of ethnic segregation he wished to impose in the Balkans.
A number of factors were at work in bringing the Yugoslav government to the point where it was prepared to hand Mr Milosevic over. His lack of support amongst the Serbian people has been growing for a number of years now. Massive demonstrations began in Belgrade four years ago to demand his removal from office. Rigged elections kept him in power until the arrival of the current President, Mr Vojislav Kostunica, and the opening up of the news media led to many Serbs discovering for the first time the extent of the barbarities committed in their name.
There has also been a financial consideration. A conference of international donors will take place in Brussels on Friday and a clear message has been sent, particularly from the United States, that financial aid for the reconstruction of Yugoslavia's economy and infrastructure would not be forthcoming without the extradition of Mr Milosevic. The former president's lawyers may appeal the decree permitting the extradition of Mr Milosevic and others accused of war crimes but it is expected that the country's constitutional court will uphold the legislation.
While all those who oppose the racist and self-serving policies he pursued while in power will welcome Mr Milosevic's appearance in The Hague, it is important that justice be done openly and with greater efficiency than heretofore. In its eight years in operation, ICTY has sentenced only four war criminals. Only ten suspects are currently before the court while others wait inordinately long periods to be tried.
The appointment of 27 new temporary judges to ICTY, including the Irish criminal lawyer, Ms Maureen Harding Clark, could not have come at a more appropriate time.