Brussels, 20/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Union and NATO welcomed, on Wednesday 20 July, the capture in Serbia of war crimes suspect Goran Hadzic, saying that his arrest would close a painful chapter in European history. Hadzic, a Croatian Serb of 52, was arrested in a mountainous region near the northern city of Novi Sad on Wednesday. He was the last of dozens of people indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia to be caught. He is wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including command responsibility for the killing of 250 Croats and other non-Serbs during the siege of Vukovar in 1991.
“Following the transfer of Ratko Mladic to the Hague, this arrest will allow for the most painful chapter in recent European history to be closed”, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement, adding: “I commend the step taken by the Serbian authorities to live up to their international obligations. Serbia's future lies in constructive cooperation with its neighbours and the Euro-Atlantic family”. In a joint statement, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and High Representative Catherine Ashton said the arrest was further proof that Serbia is committed to its quest for European Union membership. “This is a further important step for Serbia in realising its European perspective and equally crucial for international justice. We salute the determination and commitment of Serbia's leadership in this effort”, they said, continuing: “The Serbian nation is in the process of confronting the past and turning the page to a better European future”. The EU and NATO both called for Hadzic to be sent to The Hague without delay to face the tribunal. (LoC)