The Dutch government is resisting pressure to accelerate Serbia’s entry to the EU. Following a meeting between the Serbian President, Boris Tadic, and the President of the European Commission, which led to strong hints that Serbia might become a candidate country by 2009, The Hague has said that any progress towards EU membership must be strictly linked to the arrest of General Ratko Mladic, wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and still at large. The Dutch Foreign Minister, Maxime Verhagen, said, “We are absolutely clear about Serbia: we have taken a decision, united, that there is a need for full cooperation' with war-crimes prosecutors. Full cooperation does mean the arrests of those who are still not put before the tribunal.” The attitude of the Netherlands stands in contrast to that of nearly all other EU states, who want to move ahead faster with Serbian accession following the recent arrest of Radovan Karadzic. [Bloomberg, 6 September 2008]
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