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Saturday 26 May RNW - NEWS AND ANALYSIS FROM THE NETHERLANDS IN 10 LANGUAGES, WORLDWIDE 24/7 ON RADIO, TV AND ONLINE

Dutch FM cancels visit to Serbia over ICTY

Published on 10 July 2009 - 10:16am
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Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has postponed a trip to Serbia scheduled this month. The minister wanted to discuss closer economic cooperation between the two countries with a view to increasing trade and investment flows.

 

Serbia was adamant that the Yugoslavia Tribunal should also be on the agenda. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a United Nations body set up to prosecute war crimes committed during the war in the 1990s and to try alleged perpetrators. The Dutch foreign minister said there was nothing to discuss on the matter as far as he was concerned.

Ratko Mladic

The Netherlands' standpoint is that if Serbia wants to join the EU, it has to cooperate fully with the tribunal and help capture Ratko Mladic, an ex-military top general wanted by the ICTY in connection with the 1992-1995 Siege of Sarajevo and the massacre of some 7,000 Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica in 1995. In 2004, it was revealed that the Serbian army had been harbouring and protecting Mladic, despite repeated pleas from the ICTY. The tribunal's prosecutor, Serge Brammerts, recently said there is some improvement, but no full cooperation from Serbia.

In May 2006, talks about Serbia's entry into the EU were suspended when the deadline for handing over Mladic to the ICTY was passed.

 

Visa relaxation

The EU's stabilisation and association accord with Serbia's remains frozen, and The Netherlands is refusing to reactivate the accord while Serbian cooperation over the ICTY is considered insufficient. The accord is considered a precursor to full EU membership. Despite the Dutch opposition to reviving the accord, a spokesperson for the Dutch Foreign Ministry told AFP that The Netherlands is willing to support moves to allow easier travel for Serbians into the EU. Brussels is proposing to lift visa restrictions for Serbian citizens from 2010.

 

 

 

Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen, by roel1943 (flickr)

  • Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen by roel1943 (flickr)

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Discussion

Miss JIll LOuise Starr 24 September 2009 - 3:16pm
Serbia To Shortly Ascend to the EU Says SPAIN. Irrefutable Proof ICTY Is Corrupt Court/Irrefutable Proof the Hague Court Cannot Legitimately Prosecute Karadzic Case This legal technicality indicates the Hague must dismiss charges against Dr karadzic and others awaiting trials in the Hague jail; like it or not. Unfortunately for the Signatures Of the Rome Statute United Nations member states instituting the ICC & ICTY housed at the Hague, insofar as the, Radovan Karadzic, as with the other Hague cases awaiting trial there, I personally witnessed these United Nations member states openly speaking about trading judicial appointments and verdicts for financial funding when I attended the 2001 ICC Preparatory Meetings at the UN in Manhattan making the iCTY and ICC morally incapable trying Radovan Karazdic and others. I witnessed with my own eyes and ears when attending the 2001 Preparatory Meetings to establish an newly emergent International Criminal Court, the exact caliber of criminal corruption running so very deeply at the Hague, that it was a perfectly viable topic of legitimate conversation in those meetings I attended to debate trading verdicts AND judicial appointments, for monetary funding. Jilly wrote:*The rep from Spain became distraught and when her country’s proposal was not taken to well by the chair of the meeting , then Spain argued in a particularly loud and noticably strongly vocal manner, “Spain (my country) strongly believes if we contribute most financial support to the Hague’s highest court, that ought to give us and other countries feeding it financially MORE direct power over its decisions.” ((((((((((((((((((((((((( ((((((((((((((((((((((((( Instead of censoring the country representative from Spain for even bringing up this unjust, illegal and unfair judicial idea of bribery for international judicial verdicts and judicial appointments, all country representatives present in the meeting that day all treated the Spain proposition as a ”totally legitimate topic” discussed and debated it between each other for some time. I was quite shocked! The idea was "let's discuss it." "It's a great topic to discuss." Some countries agreed with Spain’s propositions while others did not. The point here is, bribery for judicial verdicts and judicial appointments was treated as a totally legitimate topic instead of an illegitimate toic which it is in the meeting that I attended in 2001 that day to establish the ground work for a newly emergent international criminal court.)))))))))))))))))))))))))))) In particular., since "Spain" was so overtly unafraid in bringing up this topic of trading financial funding the ICC for influence over its future judicial appointments and verdicts in front of every other UN member state present that day at the UN, "Spain" must have already known by previous experience the topic of bribery was "socially acceptable" for conversation that day. They must have previously spoke about bribing the ICTY and ICC before in meetings; this is my take an international sociological honor student. SPAIN's diplomatic gesture of international justice insofar as, Serbia, in all of this is, disgusting morally! SPAIN HAS TAUGHT THE WORLD THE TRUE DEFINITION OF AN "INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT." I remind everyone, when I attended those ICC Preparatory Meetings in 2001, witnessing first hand the country plenipotentiary representatives present with me discussing so openly, trading judicial funding of a new international criminal court, for its direct judicial appointments and judicial verdicts, those same state powers were concurrently, those same countries and people were already simultaneously, funding the already established ICTY which was issuing at that time, arrest warrants for Bosnian Serbs (primarily) under false diplomatic pretenses. The ICTY and ICC is just where it should be for once. Cornered and backed into and an international wall, scared like a corned animal (and I bet it reacts in the same way a rabid cornered animal does too in such circumstances). (ICTRY associates) murdered former Serb President, Slobodan Milosevic, tried to murder me, as well and other Serbs prisoners and presently places , Doctor Radovan Karadzic’s life in direct danger as well as Ratko Mladic’s life in danger should he be brought there. The ICTY has no other choice than to halt all further court proceedings against, Doctor Radovan Karadzic, and others there both serving sentences and awaiting trials. Miss JIll Louise Starr (The UN Security Council has no choice but to act on this now). I represented the state interests' of the Former Yugoslavia, in Darko Trifunovic’s absence in those meetings and I am proud to undertake this effort on Serbia’s behalf.

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