EU Apoints New Envoy to Bosnia

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 16:57

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has appointed Peter Sorenson as head of the bloc's delegation to Bosnia, transferring him from his current post in Macedonia.

Sorenson, who took up his post as head of the EU's delegation in Skopje only three months ago, will hold the same post in Sarajevo....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-apoints-new-envoy-to-bosnia

Croatia Set to Complete EU Talks 'By End of June'

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 13:26

France believes Croatia will complete accession negotiations with the EU by the end of June, a senior French official said in Zagreb on Monday.
Daily.tportal.hr, Radio.net
Our position is that the negotiations will be completed by June 23 or 24, before the anniversary of Croatia's independence on June 25, the official said....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/croatia-will-complete-eu-talks-by-june

Albania Plans Tolls for Kosovo Highway

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 12:23

Albania’s government has announced the introduction of tolls on the country's highways, including the recently completed road to Kosovo, in order to cope with maintenance costs.

Besar LikmetaTirana
“This country does not have the public capacities for its maintenance,” said Prime Minister Sali Berisha in a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, while explaining that the supervision of the highway will move into private hands and will be financed by tolls....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-plans-tolls-for-kosovo-highway

Mladic Lawyer Set to File Extradition Appeal

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 12:15

Ratko Mladic's lawyers are set to file an appeal against his extradition on Monday, as they submit a request to form an independent team of doctors to examine the defendant's health.
Tanjug, B92
Mladic's lawyer, Milos Saljic, confirmed that he would send the formal appeal against the decision to extradite Mladic "by mail, in the evening", in order to stall the procedure and prevent the extradition. The deadline to submit the extradition is Monday....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/mladic-lawyer-set-to-file-extradition-appeal

Mladic 'Should Face Charges' for Crimes in Croatia

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 11:32

Croatian President Ivo Josipovic has said that suspected war criminal Ratko Mladic should also face charges for crimes committed in Croatia during the wars in the 1990s.

Daily.tportal.hr, Radio.net
Apart from war crimes committed in Bosnia, it would be just to try Ratko Mladic for the crimes committed in Croatia as well, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic told the country's public broadcaster on Sunday evening....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/mladic-should-face-charges-for-crimes-in-croatia

Bosnian Serb Nationalists Rally for Mladic

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 10:08

Thousands of supporters of Ratko Mladic rallied throughout the predominantly Serb part of Bosnia at the weekend, and announced a central protest in Banja Luka for Tuesday.

Eldin HadzovicSarajevo
An army of followers of Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb military leader indicted by the Hague Tribunal on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity, rallied across the predominantly Serb part of Bosnia on Sunday in support of the man they consider a war hero. ...more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnian-serb-nationalists-continue-to-support-ratko-mladic

Macedonia Ruling Party Draws Thousands to Election Rally

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 09:26

Macedonia’s capital Skopje ground to a halt Sunday afternoon as tens of thousands of supporters poured in from across the country to attend the election rally of the ruling VMRO DPMNE party ahead of the June 5 snap poll.

Sinisa Jakov MarusicSkopje
The centre-right ruling party organised buses and vans to bring in its supporters to the capital. Dressed in red t-shirts, the traditional color of the party, they filled the square in front of the government building....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonia-election-campaign-nears-finish

Romanian Hungarians Plan Own Office in Brussels

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 07:24

Plan by ethnic Hungarians in Transylvania to open a representative office in Brussels angers Romanian politicians.

Marian ChiriacBucharest
Three ethnic Hungarian members of the European Parliament from Romania have annoyed Romanian officials by announcing plans to open a representative office for the mainly Hungarian Szekler region in Brussels on June 1....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/disputes-over-romanian-hungarians-planned-representation-at-eu

EU Commissioner Tops Bulgaria Popularity Poll

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 07:20

Prime Minister ranked in third place in popularity in a recent poll, which also puts his GERB party on course to win hands down if an election were held tomorrow.

Novinite (Sofia News Agency)
Bulgaria's EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva, once again tops the list of popular politicians, with an approval rating of 52 per cent, according to a poll conducted by the MBMD research agency....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgarian-regional-minister-surpasses-pm-in-approval-rating

Mladic Arrest Boosts Serbia's Hand With Kosovo

balkan insight
30 May 2011 / 07:15

Kosovo’s analysts fear the arrest of Ratko Mladic will secure Serbia fast-track entry to EU - and undermine its interest in pursuing the ongoing dialogue with Kosovo.

Petrit CollakuPristina
Kosovo analysts say the arrest of the UN war-crimes fugitive, wanted for the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica and other crimes in Bosnia, has scored major points for Serbia in the eyes of the international commnity and the European Union....more....
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-mladic-s-arrest-cast-shadow-on-dialogue

Thousands Protest in Belgrade Against Mladic Arrest

balkan insight
29 May 2011 / 21:45

Several thousand people gathered in Belgrade on Sunday evening to protest against the arrest of Ratko Mladic, who may be transferred to the Hague on Monday to stand trial.

Bojana Barlovac, Gordana AndricBelgrade
While the rally was largely peaceful, a group of young men were seen throwing rocks and sticks at some of the 3,000 policeman present to secure the gathering....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-s-radicals-set-to-protest-in-belgrade-over-mladic-arrest

Negative Campaigning Dominates Macedonian Poll

balkan insight
25 May 2011 / 15:21

In spite of party leaders’ promise to honour code of good conduct, old culture of smears and attacks on rivals is set to dominate general election campaign.

Darko Duridanski

Skopje

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/negative-campaigning-dominates-macedonian-poll

Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serbs’ Unstoppable Strongman

balkan insight
25 May 2011 / 14:26

Love him or loathe him, the boss of the Republika Srpska has shown that his opinions cannot be left out of any discussion on the country’s future.

Drazen Remikovic....more...

read more: balkan insight

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/milorad-dodik-the-bosnian-serbs-unstoppable-strongman

Election Result Dispute Dims EU Albania’s Hopes

balkan insight
25 May 2011 / 08:57

A fierce row over the outcome of the May 8 local elections in Tirana is likely to play badly for Albania’s chances of obtaining EU candidate status in the autumn.

Dardan Malaj

Tirana...more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/election-result-dispute-dims-eu-albania-s-hopes

Boris Kondarko – Man in Macedonia’s Election Hot Seat

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 17:21

As an opposition nominee for the head of the election commission, Kondarko faces a rough few weeks ahead of him.

Sase Dimovski

Skopje

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/boris-kondarko-man-in-macedonia-s-election-hot-seat

Albanian Race Row Puts Spotlight on Kadare

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 08:12

A controversy over whether a newspaper was racist in its criticism of the US ambassador has reignited a debate on whether Ismail Kadare, Albania’s most renowned writer, is also racist.

Marjola Rukaj

The American embassy in Tirana severed last month ties with the daily newspaper Shekulli following publication of a comment deemed derogatory and racist to ambassador Alexander Arvizu....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albanian-race-row-puts-spotlight-on-kadare

Ruling Party Tipped to Win Macedonian Election

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 17:19

Current coalition between Nikola Gruevski's VMRO-DPMNE party and the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, is on course to win the June 5 elections, a poll shows.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Skopje
The survey, conducted by Rating polling agency for the daily "Dnevnik", shows that the main ruling party will win about 100,000 more votes than its main rival, the Social Democrats....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ruling-macedonian-party-leads-opinion-poll

Albania Court Postpones Election Dispute Ruling

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 17:17

Albania’s Electoral College decided on Friday to postpone its ruling on the contested race for Tirana mayor until June 3, after lawyers for the Socialist opposition changed their appeal.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana
The specialized court for elections disputes also announced that a new panel of judges will hear the final appeal, which will decide the winner of the Tirana race between Socialist opposition leader and incumbent mayor Edi Rama and ruling party candidate Lulzim Basha....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-court-postpones-election-dispute-to-june-3

Ashton: Rule of Law Crucial for Kosovo

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 17:00

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said on Friday that the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo has the full support of all 27 member states.

Petrit Collaku

Pristina

After visiting Belgrade on Thursday, Ashton headed south to Pristina on Friday and conveyed the message that rule-of-law is critical for Kosovo’s future....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ashton-rule-of-law-crucial-for-kosovo

Mixed Reactions Over Romania Summit Boycott

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 09:21

Romania remains firm in its stance not to recognise Kosovo, but some say the country should not boycott a regional summit over the issue.

Marian Chiriac

Bucharest

Many Romanians support President Traian Basescu’s decision to skip a regional meeting on Friday and Saturday in Warsaw, where US President Barack Obama is expected as a special guest, because Kosovo has been invited to the event....more....

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/mixed-reactions-following-romania-s-decision-to-boycot-summit-over-kosovo

Kosovo President Joins Warsaw Leaders' Summit

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 09:11
The participation of Kosovo at a regional summit in Warsaw alongside US President Obama is seen as a diplomatic step forwards for the country.

Petrit Collaku

Pristina

The President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, and the Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, will take part in the Central European leaders' summit in Warsaw today and tomorrow alongside 20 heads of state from the region and US President Barack Obama....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-s-president-taking-part-at-warsaw-summit-today

Macedonian Rightists Target Ruling Party

balkan insight
27 May 2011 / 08:54

Opposition parties formed by dissatisfied former members of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party plan to eat into its traditional voting bloc on June 5.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Skopje
Right-wing parties dissatisfied with the centrist VMRO-DPMNE party of Nikola Gruevski say they hope to make off with about a third of its 300,000 "hard core" voters. The party has been in power since 2006....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonian-rightist-opposition-races-for-ruling-party-votes

Albania Court Rejects Opposition Appeal Over Disputed Poll

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 14:45

Albania’s Electoral College rejected on Thursday a challenge to the results of the May 8 race for mayor of Tirana, narrowly won by the ruling Democratic Party candidate Lulzim Basha.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

Albania's Electoral Commission, CEC, on Monday declared Basha the winner of the race for Tirana mayor in the May 8 local elections, following a controversial recount of stray ballots....more....

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-court-rejects-opposition-appeal-over-disputed-poll

EU's Catherine Ashton Heads to Serbia, Kosovo

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 12:03

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet with top Serbian officials on Thursday in Belgrade, before heading south to Pristina.

Beta, Tanjug

She will meet with Serbian President Boris Tadic, Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, the head of Belgrade's team in the dialogue with Pristina, Borislav Stefanovic, and Defense Minister Dragan Sutanovac....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/eu-s-catherine-ashton-heads-to-serbia-kosovo

EP Pans Albania’s Political Elite Over Poll

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 11:35

Eduard Kukan, who led the European Parliament election monitoring team during Albania's May poll, describes Tirana’s political elite as immature and unable to compromise for the country’s future.

Besar Likmeta

Tirana

"The elections should have shown political maturity of Albanian leaders and their ability to conduct elections in line with high international standards,” said Kukan in his de-briefing on Wednesday in the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ep-pans-albania-s-political-class-over-poll

Serbia's NIS to Search for Oil in Romania

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 10:44
Serbia's oil company NIS has signed a memorandum of understanding with Canadian-based East West Petroleum Corporation to explore for oil in Romania.

Tanjug, B92

The two companies plan to drill 12 holes in four blocks in Romania.

NIS, which is majority-owned by Russia's Gazprom, said in a statement on Wednesday that the new joint project of development of oil blocks in Romania, which are a part of East West Petroleum's asset portfolio, is one of the steps taken by NIS aimed at expanding its presence outside of Serbia....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-s-nis-to-search-for-oil-in-romania

Macedonian Albanian Parties Focus on Community Rights

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 09:32
The election campaign of the ethnic Albanian parties for the upcoming snap poll focuses on improving the community's position in the country, analysts say.

Sinisa Jakov Marusic

Skopje
While the junior ruling Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, promises full implementation of the 2001 Ohrid peace accord, which granted special rights to the ethnic Albanian minority, the three other parties go a step further and say it is time for a new deal....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/macedonian-albanians-focus-on-albanian-rights

Transparency International Slates Romanian Corruption

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 08:53

There is more talk about graft than action in Romania, a new report by the watchdog organisation says.
Marian Chiriac
Bucharest

Romania still faces a host of problems related to corruption and to reforming the justice system, a report by the Romanian branch of the organisation Transparency International says....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/ti-report-blasts-romania-on-corruption-issues

Bosnia to Change Football Rules to Escape Suspension

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 08:52

Bosnia's Football Federation is scheduled to alter its statute in accordance with FIFA-UEFA demands in order to escape suspension from international competitions.

Eldin Hadzovic

Sarajevo
Jasmin Bakovic, secretary general of Bosnia's Football Association, NSBiH, told Balkan Insight he expected the assembly of NSBiH to adopt the new statute in its session on Thursday....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnian-football-association-to-adopt-new-statute

Kosovo Muslims Resent New Mother Teresa Statue

balkan insight
26 May 2011 / 08:44
Muslims in the western town of Peja are far from happy with the town council's decision to let a US-based Albanian society put up a statue to Mother Teresa.

Petrit Collaku

Pristina

A Muslim youth group in Peja, the Muslim Youth Forum, has asked the mayor to withdraw the decision, saying it does not represent the interests of the Muslim community and is an insult to a town that is 98 per cent Muslim....more...

read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-row-over-mother-teresa-statue

Mladic: You have ruined my complete business

blic online

General Mladic complains to prosecutor

Vuk Z. Cvijić, Ivana Mastilović Jasnić | 31. 05. 2011. - 00:02h | Comments 0

‘You have destroyed my complete business and that of my son Darko’s as well’, Ratko Mladic complained during hearing at the Special Court in Belgrade referring to cutting of all money inflows used for his hiding, ‘Blic’ learns.

He was not speaking about his helpers in hiding and the only name he mentioned was the one of the late Jovo Djogo. ‘He was only driving me at the beginning of my hiding’, Mladic said....more....

read more: blic online
http://english.blic.rs/News/7698/Mladic-You-have-ruined-my-complete-business

Extremists to be banned

se times
A.Ž.A - Ž.J. | 31. 05. 2011. - 00:02h | Comments 0

During unrest in Belgrade on Sunday evening the police have arrested 179 people, 48 of them underage. During protests on the occasion of the arrest of Ratko Mladic 11 citizens and 32 policemen were injured.

Five official vehicles and six buildings were damaged. As ‘Blic’ learns among the arrested people there are football fans of the ‘Rad’, ‘Red Star’ and ‘Partizan’ football clubs. However, majority of them are members of the extreme organizations ‘Obraz’ and ‘Nasi 1389’. They have launched initiative for registration of those extremist organizations as political parties....more....

read more: se times
http://english.blic.rs/News/7699/Extremists-to-be-banned

Partition of Kosovo not forbidden topic

blic online

Serbian authorities change tactic

Ivana Mastilović Jasnić | 26. 05. 2011. - 00:02h | Comments 0

BELGRADE – Partition as possible solution to Kosovo problem until two months ago was a taboo topic among Serbian officials. However, more frequently statements by Serbian politicians, including those of President Boris Tadic, that all options should be discussed, raises question if Serbia is really ready to change its policy towards the southern province....more....

read more: blic online
http://english.blic.rs/News/7683/Partition-of-Kosovo-not-forbidden-topic

Complicated dance between Orthodox Church, Serbian politicians

se times

30/05/2011

Religion and politics often intertwine in Serbia, but experts say the relationship is more complex than many assume.

By Bojana Milovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 30/05/11

Analysts agree on one thing: the church maintains a connection with Serbian political parties.
The real question, they argue, is which partner leads in this dance? Which wields more power over the other?  ...more....


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/articles/2011/05/30/reportage-01

Obama: US wants true partnership with Eastern Europe

se times

30/05/2011

The presidents of Romania and Serbia were the only Balkan leaders who missed last week's summit in Warsaw.

(Sofia News Agency, Fena, Albeu.com, Emg.rs - 29/05/11; The New York Times, FOCUS News Agency, Mediapool, MIA, Albeu.com, Official Website of the Polish President - 28/05/11)

The transformation that Poland and other former communist states in Central and Eastern Europe underwent during the past two decades can serve as an example for Arab countries fighting for democracy, US President Barack Obama said on Friday (May 27th)....more...  


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/30/feature-01

Mladic supporters clash with police

se times

30/05/2011

Clashes between police and far right-wing nationalists resulted in several dozen injuries Sunday.

By Georgi Mitev Shantek for Southeast European Times in Belgrade -- 30/05/11

Protests organised by ultranationalist Serbs against the arrest and pending extradition of Europe's most wanted fugitive, former general Ratko Mladic, erupted in violent clashes Sunday (May 29th) on the streets of Belgrade....more...  


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/30/feature-02

AKP volunteers seek to get out the vote

se times

30/05/2011

Turkey's ruling party is busy building grassroots support ahead of the June 12th elections.

By Aaron Stein for Southeast European Times in Istanbul – 30/05/11

Istanbul is awash with the sights and sounds of the upcoming election. Buildings are covered in multi-coloured political party flags, street corners are filled with campaign volunteers and cars topped with large speakers patrol the streets blasting each political party's campaign song....more...    


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/30/feature-03

EU to revise Schengen rules?

se times

30/05/2011

As the EU prepares to debate a possible overhaul, Bulgaria and Romania are watching carefully.

 By Svetla Dimitrova for Southeast European Times in Sofia - 30/05/11

EU leaders are set to address the thorny question of whether the rules covering the passport-free Schengen Zone should be revised in order to provide better control of migration. With thousands of North Africans fleeing the turmoil in Tunisia and Libya, calls for revamping the system have become more urgent....more....  


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/30/feature-04

Business: Serbia, Germany team up on hydro plants

se times

27/05/2011

Serbia will build five hydroelectric plants on the Velika Morava River. Also in business news: Albania needs to focus on privatisation, and the Greek economy will return to growth by 2012, the OECD predicts.

Serbian state power utility EPS and German energy company RWE signed a 352m-euro agreement to build five hydroelectric power plants on the Velika Morava River, media reported on Tuesday (May 24th). The total capacity of the plants will reach 150MW. The EPS and RWE will also create a joint venture, which will be responsible for management of the plants....more....    


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/roundup/2011/05/27/roundup-bs-04

Iranian firms head for Turkey

se times

26/05/2011

Turkish and Iranian business ties grow amid international pressure on Iran.

By Alakbar Raufoglu for Southeast European Times -- 26/05/11

The total number of Iranian firms in Turkey reached 1,400 by the end of last year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute. The two countries, both members of the Economic Co-operation Organisation, have ambitious plans to increase bilateral trade to $30 billion by 2015, from $10.6 billion last year....more....  


read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/05/26/feature-03

Nicked in the nick of time

the economist
Ratko Mladic, Serbia and the EU

May 28th 2011, 0:30 by The Economist

BRUSSELS
WHY was Ratko Mladic finally arrested this week after 16 years on the run? Because, says President Boris Tadic of Serbia, it is only now that the Serbian authorities been have been able to find the former Bosnian Serb general accused of ordering acts of genocide against Muslims.


Perhaps so. But there is the lingering suspicion that somebody somewhere in the Serbian government knew where Mr Mladic was hiding and it is now, for political reasons, that the government finally decided to pack him off to the international court in The Hague. Any such suggestion, responds Mr Tadic, is “rubbish”. Misha Glenny, the author of a book on the wars of the ex-Yugoslavia, concurs. For Mr Tadic, he says, finding the ex-general was a moral cause....more....
read more:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2011/05/ratko_mladic_serbia_and_eu

Ratko Mladic could be extradited to the Hague 'within days'

guardian.co.uk
Defence appeal is unlikely to stall process as details emerge of Mladic's life on the run, including three years in Belgrade

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 May 2011 19.11 BST
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb general arrested last week on genocide charges, may be extradited to the Hague tribunal in the next four days, say Serbian officials.

The officials said that delaying tactics by defence lawyers could not put off the extradition beyond the end of the week. Mladic's lawyer Milos Saljic was due to file an appeal on Monday against his extradition to the Hague war crimes tribunal, sending it by post in the hope of slowing down the process. Saljic said he would send the document by registered delivery....more...
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/30/ratko-mladic-extradited-hague-in-days

Remember Srebrenica? The west's intervention in Libya is a no-brainer

guardian.co.uk
Cowardice in Bosnia resulted in a massacre. That's why it's still right to intervene in Libya

Peter Preston
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 May 2011 21.59 BST
Across the bottom of one of Tracey Emin's visceral, madcap rugs on display in the Hayward, there's a sentence that carries a jolt. "The past is a heavy place," it reads, which is more or less what the Queen was saying in Dublin when she admitted, with "historical hindsight", that maybe the Black and Tans weren't Britain's best-ever invention. Sorry, so sorry? Not quite. But wince a little as you head on to Benghazi via the Srebrenica ring road....more...
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/29/srebrenica-libya-intervention-no-brainer

Serb nationalists rally in support of Ratko Mladic

guardian.co.uk
Protesters in Belgrade chant slogans against president as ex-general denies responsibility for Srebrenica in message from son

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 May 2011 21.01 BST
Serbian police clashed with ultra-nationalists after thousands of people rallied in Belgrade to protest against the arrest and proposed extradition of Ratko Mladic, on charges of genocide.

Rioters overturned rubbish bins, broke traffic lights and set off firecrackers as they rampaged through the city centre after a rally at which protesters sang nationalist anthems and chanted slogans against President Boris Tadic, who ordered Mladic's arrest on Thursday. About 3,000 riot police had taken up positions at government buildings and western embassies.

The protests came as the 69-year-old former Bosnian Serb general denied, through his son, responsibility for the massacre at Srebrenica in 1995, the worst atrocity Europe has witnessed since the Nazi era....more...

read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/29/serb-nationalists-rally-for-ratko-mladic

Ratko Mladic denies ordering Srebrenica massacre, says his son

guardian.co.uk
Darko Mladic makes claim as his father fights extradition from Serbia to face UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague

Peter Beaumont and James Meikle
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 29 May 2011 16.11 BST
Ratko Mladic denies ordering the 1995 massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, his son has said.
"Whatever was done in Srebrenica, he has nothing to do with it. His orders were to evacuate the wounded, the women and the children and then the fighters," Darko Mladic said as his father fought extradition from Serbia to face the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

"Whatever was done behind his back, he has nothing to do with that."

The family intends to demand on Monday that a Serbian court orders an independent medical checkup to counter Friday's decision that Mladic is fit to stand trial. "His basic human rights are being violated," his son said....more....
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/29/ratko-mladic-denies-ordering-srebrenica-massacre

Mladic's crimes have shaped the world we live in

guardian.co.uk
Today's liberal interventionism is a product of Europe's shame and revulsion at the Bosnia war crimes

Henry Porter
The Observer, Sunday 29 May 2011
Things sometimes go well. The arrest of Ratko Mladic, though long overdue and cynically co-ordinated with Serbia's overtures to the EU, is truly to be welcomed. Rather than a corpse lying in a compound, we have the living individual who ordered the largest mass murder in Europe since the Second World War and now he will stand in court to be confronted with the unimaginable pain that his actions caused in Sarajevo and the Muslim enclave called Silver City – Srebrenica.

Whether justice can really be achieved after such crimes is another matter, but this course is infinitely preferable to the operation carried out against Osama bin Laden at Abbottabad a few weeks ago. However rotten Mladic seems and however dreadful his crimes, with his extradition to the International Criminal Tribunal in the Hague we assert values that are the very opposite of the darkness that descended in the break-up of Yugoslavia. No retribution can be devised to match what he did, but there will be a modest gain for civilisation from his arrival in the Hague, just as there was when John Demjanjuk was sentenced in Germany two weeks ago – 58 years after he helped kill thousands of Jews in the gas chambers of Sobibor....more....
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/29/srebrenica-massacre-ratko-mladic

Ratko Mladic's arrest is a hollow victory in a country that refuses to apologise

guardian.co.uk
The arrest of Ratko Mladic may be a triumph for international justice, but not for reconciliation – especially among the Serbs who still regard him as a war hero

Ed Vulliamy
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 28 May 2011 22.48 BST
Within 20 years of the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp by the British army, the Beatles were playing in Hamburg. This was in part the achievement of the Beatles, of course, but it was also Germany's. The country had undergone the painful and difficult process of reckoning in order to become the heart of democratic Europe.

Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the closure of the concentration camps in Bosnia and the beginning of the three-year hurricane of violence unleashed across that stillborn country by General Ratko Mladic and his peers, until the Srebrenica massacre in 1995 – the worst wartime atrocity on European soil since 1945....more....
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/28/ratko-mladic-bosnia-ed-vulliamy

Ratko Mladic says all Serbs must share the guilt

guardian.co.uk
It was Milosevic's fault, says the man charged with orchestrating the biggest massacre in Europe since the last world war

Peter Beaumont in Belgrade
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 28 May 2011 22.41 BST
Ratko Mladic delivered a tirade of abuse against officials involved in his capture when he was first brought to court, the Observer has learned. He accused them of "working for the CIA" and later remarked chillingly to one prominent official that he could have had him killed on two occasions.

Mladic, who has refused to recognise the authority of the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, where he is expected to be extradited to this week on charges of genocide, also denied being a killer, adding that all Serbs bore a shared guilt for voting for President Slobodan Milosevic, architect of the Balkan wars....more....
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/28/ratko-mladic-serbs-share-guilt

Questions raised by Ratko Mladic arrest

guardian.co.uk
The Guardian, Saturday 28 May 2011
The arrest of Ratko Mladic is a welcome if long overdue breakthrough (16 years on, the Butcher of Bosnia is behind bars, 27 May). However, the fact that his capture coincided with the visit to Serbia of Baroness Ashton and came just a week after the European commission president, José Manuel Barroso, told Belgrade to step up its efforts to catch war criminals, does raise some awkward questions. Have the Serbian authorities really been completely unaware of Mladic's whereabouts for 16 years? Does his arrest – like that of Radovan Karadzic in 2008 – have more to do with a political desire for EU membership rather than any investigative breakthrough by the police and Interpol?...more....
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/28/questions-raised-ratko-mladic-arrest

What to tell my daughter about Srebrenica

guardian.co.uk
News of Ratko Mladic's arrest tugged at my gut. It was a long time coming but I feel no solace

Vesna Maric
guardian.co.uk, Friday 27 May 2011 22.00 BST
Last year, when my daughter was just a few months old, I walked past an open-air exhibition at London's South Bank, a photographic project related to the Srebrenica massacre. On the photographs mothers held hand-written testimonies in creased fists, stories of their lost sons.

Almost 16 years on some bodies have not been found, only clothing and personal objects scattered across mass graves. The bones had been mixed up, the murdered men jumbled together by bulldozers operated by Ratko Mladic's men to make identification more difficult. And though I have always appreciated my fortune at leaving Bosnia alive and healthy – the death of several family members and friends notwithstanding – having a child of my own has opened up an understanding of loss that I now realise was previously incomplete....more....
read more: guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/27/my-daughter-srebrenica-ratko-mladic