BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president has asked the European Union to do its part after Ratko Mladic’s arrest and boost the Balkan nation’s efforts to gain membership.
President Boris Tadic told The Associated Press on Tuesday: “I simply ask the EU to fulfill its part. We fulfilled our part and we will continue to do so.”
The EU has repeatedly said that Serbia could win pre-membership talks only on the condition it arrested the wartime Bosnian Serb commander. Serbia now expects pre-candidacy status by the end of the year.
Europe’s most wanted war crimes fugitive Mladic was arrested on Thursday in a village north of Belgrade after 16 years on the run. He is charged by a United Nations war crimes court for atrocities committed by his troops during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.
