Brussels, 02/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - Speaking in Helsinki on 29 September, Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), said it would appear that Serbia does not have the political will to seek out or extradite its war criminals. “We need the support of the international community, and of the EU in particular, in our efforts to combat the impunity of war criminals”, she said. Ms Del Ponte will be in Belgrade this week to look at concrete cases and details of what has been done to bring Ratko Mladic and other war criminals on the run to justice. After her visit to Serbia, the ICTY will make a complete assessment of action taken by Serbia to bring the fugitives before the court. The EU has suspended its negotiations with Serbia on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) due to the lack of cooperation with the ICTY on Belgrade's part. In Helsinki, Ms Del Ponte said she was convinced that Ratko Mladic could be captured and brought to trial if the EU maintained its strict conditions for resumption of SAA talks. “If the EU continues to suspend negotiations until there is full cooperation with us - full cooperation meaning that Mladic is in The Hague or that he has been located - and if the EU continues to make this a condition, then I am optimistic that we shall have Mladic”, she said during a seminar entitled “Building a Culture of Accountability - Action against Impunity in the external relations of the EU”, organised by the Finnish Foreign Ministry with Amnesty International.
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who also took part in the seminar, fully shares Ms del Ponte's displeasure. There is therefore no reason why SAA negotiations should be resumed at present. “We have no knowledge of new elements concerning cooperation with the ICTY. There is no sign of progress on the part of the Serbs and, therefore, the EU has nothing new to say for the moment”, Mr Rehn said. The Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja, and ICTY Judge Erkki Kourula also attended the seminar. “We are now awaiting progress from the Serb government regarding cooperation with the ICTY in line with the action plan that Serbia presented in July”, Tuomioja said.