The Netherlands has played a key role in the arrest of former Serb army chief Ratko Mladic, says Richard Goldstone, the first chief prosecutor of the UN Yugoslavia tribunal.

Each time the European Union discussed expansion plans, Holland insisted that Serbia should only be allowed to join once all those suspected of war crimes, including Mladic, had been arrested, the South African judge says.

Goldstone was among those to oppose an early deal at the Dayton peace accord, which ended more than three years of war in Bosnia, in return for the freedom of Mladic and the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

Never too late
Goldstone first heard of Mladic’s arrest in California, when his wife woke him up after hearing it on the radio.
No matter how long it has taken, Goldstone his pleased with Mladic’s arrest. “It is never too late for justice.” Last year, at a Srebrenica memorial, he spoke with women who are still grieving for their dead husbands, sons and brothers.

No pressure
Serbia denies that EU membership was a reason to arrest Mladic. On Thursday, President Tadic dismissed suggestions that demands from the EU, and the Netherlands in particular, led to Mladic’s arrest. “No pressure was needed. We all did it ourselves.”

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