Serbia pays price for sheltering Mladic

By JANET ANDERSON
INSTITUTE FOR WAR & amp; PEACE REPORTING
THE HAGUE -- The chief prosecutor of the International War Crimes Tribunal has had it with the Serbian government.
Calling Belgrade's failure to turn over top war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic "unprofessional," "unacceptable" and "a scandal," Carla Del Ponte accused Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica of basically lying to her when he "promised" that Mladic would soon been arrested and turned over to the tribunal.
"I was misled," said Del Ponte, arguing that it appears that Belgrade never actually intended to pursue Mladic and instead was counting on the fugitive giving himself up voluntarily.
Kostunica basically confirmed this assessment, saying, "It would be best for everyone if Ratko Mladic followed the example of [other Serb officers] and departs for The Hague."
Kostunica's statement made it clear that the authorities still consider arresting Mladic to be too politically dangerous a move, despite recognizing that voluntary surrender is the least probable option.
He may have a point. Public support in Serbia for the tribunal has plummeted since the sudden death of former President Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague in March. Many in the country doubt that the former president died of natural causes, as claimed by the tribunal.
Observers in Belgrade also note that Kostunica has continued to flirt with nationalist-oriented voters and suggest that he has insisted on Mladic surrendering himself rather than having him arrested as part of a bid to win the widest possible public support.
"The government would be much happier if Mladic voluntarily surrendered, or even committed suicide, instead of it having to organize an operation and arrest him," said one source close to the government.
Costly decision
But the government's failure to hand him over has come at a price. The European Union followed through on its threat to suspend negotiations with Serbia on an association agreement -- the first step toward eventual admission to the EU.
Kostunica said the EU's decision "inflicts huge damage on the government of Serbia and on our country." Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus, who was in charge of negotiating with the EU, promptly resigned.
What's still unclear is whether Kostunica would be able to deliver Mladic to The Hague even if he wanted to. His government is still struggling to gain control over many of the country's civilian and military security agencies. These institutions, which served Milosevic loyally for decades, have been only partly reformed, according to observers in Belgrade. Some elements within them continue to support war-crimes suspects and have helped them elude the authorities.
But Del Ponte was having no part of it, telling journalists that Belgrade has known Mladic's location on a number of occasions yet failed to act.
Serious challenges
The Belgrade government now faces a number of serious challenges. Apart from relations with the tribunal and the EU, there is also the imminent referendum in Montenegro on independence from its current union with Serbia, and continuing negotiations on the future status of Kosovo.
The combination of these pressures could eventually force Kostunica to hand over Mladic.
"Never has it happened in our history that the entire state and people have suffered because of one officer," Kostunica said.
Janet Anderson is the director of International Justice Program in The Hague for the Institute for War & amp; Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization in London that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services