Openbare aanklager Internationaal Strafhof Serge Brammertz wil meer medewerking van Servië (en)
UN war crimes prosecutor Serge Brammertz on Thursday (17 April) urged Serbia to improve its cooperation with the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, notably by arresting the remaining fugitive war crimes suspects.
"It is crucial that [the four remaining fugitives] are brought to justice as soon as possible," Mr Brammertz said during his first visit to Serbia since taking over from Carla Del Ponte as ICTY prosecutor in January this year.
"Progress is still needed" in terms of cooperation with the Tribunal, he added, according to Reuters.
The Hague is seeking four alleged war criminals: General Ratko Mladic, chief of staff of the army of the Serbian entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1991-1995 war in Bosnia; former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic; former Croatian Serb rebel leader Goran Hadzic and Bosnian Serb police commander Stojan Zupljanin.
Mr Brammertz's predecessor was convinced that General Mladic, the most prominent of them and charged with crimes against humanity and genocide, was in Serbia and had called on the EU to put pressure on the country to get him arrested.
Cooperation with the ICTY is one of the conditions set by the EU in order for Belgrade to take a step closer to membership by signing a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA).
Some member states have indicated a readiness to sign the deal even if the remaining fugitives are still at large - provided that Serbia shows it has been doing all it can to catch them.
But other EU countries, such as The Netherlands - host to the ICTY - have so far opposed this option.
The signing of the SAA is also dividing Serbia itself, with President Boris Tadic pushing for closer EU ties while Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica rejects signing such a deal unless it contains a reference to Kosovo as an integral part of Serbia.
A pre-electoral context
The Belgian prosecutor's call comes less than a month ahead of early elections to take place in Serbia, and amid renewed speculation that EU member states may be considering an SAA offer to Belgrade ahead of the elections in order to boost Mr Tadic's pro-European Democrats.
The vote that will take place on 11 May will primarily pit the Democrats against the nationalists of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS) - currently the largest party in parliament.
The elections are largely perceived as a referendum on Serbia's path towards Europe, with EU integration cropping up as a recurring topic in the election campaigns.
But the popularity of both the EU and the ICTY have been decreasing in Serbia recently.
A majority of EU states rapidly recognised Kosovo's declaration of independence despite Belgrade's firm opposition to the move. Serbians see Kosovo as the cradle of their civilisation and an integral part of the country's territory.
The ICTY also enraged Serbians by acquitting Kosovo's former prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, who had been accused of war crimes against Serbian civilians.
The UN court earlier this month argued that there was "vague, inconclusive or non-existent" evidence against Mr Haradinaj and let him go, prompting renewed claims by Serb nationalists that the ICTY is biased.
Mr Brammertz on Thursday said that his office was "not satisfied with the ruling" either and may appeal it.