"Unwavering Dutch stance on Mladić, SAA"

Parliamentary Speaker Oliver Dulic ended his two-day visit to The Hague Wednesday. Dulic, who is a member of President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) presidency, said that the Dutch position on allowing the signing of the SAA "remains fairly firm". "Unwavering Dutch stance on Mladic, SAA" He told reporters that the Dutch officials heard about Serbia's determination to finalize the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal as soon as possible, while a "speedy signing of the SAA would help that". Holland is opposed to the idea that Brussels should sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Belgrade, before Serbia completes its cooperation with the Hague – something commonly interpreted as the need to arrest and extradite former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic. Today, after talks with Dutch Minister of European Affairs Frans Timmermans and members of the Dutch parliament's Foreign Policy Committee, Dulic was not optimistic. "Unfortunately, all Dutch parties agree that the EU should not sign the SAA with Serbia until Mladic is extradited," he confirmed. Dulic also said that the Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, whom he met yesterday, had a "somewhat more relaxed stance". "Brammertz said that as far as he was concerned, Serbia's cooperation does not mean 'Mladic at the Hague', rather, that the process of the search and arrest is made transparent enough, with Serbia demonstrating a truly clear and practical political will to end this process as soon as possible," Dulic explained. He also said he told his interlocutors that the authorities in Belgrade are aware they must continue the Hague cooperation and extradite General Mladic, "when they find him". "But, we wished to stress that our experience and our position is that, in case those political forces gain power on May 11 who have, at least publicly, advocated against Mladic's arrest, Holland will face a problem, because what it wishes to see will not happen," he continued. The DS delegation, Dulic said, "asked for a little more understanding for the difficult position we are in, especially since the general perception in Serbia lately is that there weren't many decision that could be considered just – above all the Dutch recognition of Kosovo and the shameful Haradinaj verdict". "I have asked Brammertz to by all means appeal the Haradinaj ruling… We talked about the need for Serbia to send the prosecution all the necessary documentation about the crimes against the Serbs," Dulic said. The DS official added that although the talks were "not easy", he "managed to convince his interlocutors that Serbia wants to finalize the Hague cooperation as soon as possible", as this is "important for the reconciliation in the region, and respect of the victims of the wars". "We wish to remove the feeling of collective responsibility and guilt from us, that is ascribed to us eight years after Milosevic's downfall," Dulic said about Serbia. The DS delegation traveled to The Hague is a bid to continue the initiative to facilitate the road toward the signing of the SAA, started last week with a Dulic visit to Brussels, where he met with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Beta news agency said. Dulic, Brammertz (Tanjug)

"Unwavering Dutch stance on Mladić, SAA"

He told reporters that the Dutch officials heard about Serbia's determination to finalize the cooperation with the Hague Tribunal as soon as possible, while a "speedy signing of the SAA would help that".

Holland is opposed to the idea that Brussels should sign the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) with Belgrade, before Serbia completes its cooperation with the Hague – something commonly interpreted as the need to arrest and extradite former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladić.

Today, after talks with Dutch Minister of European Affairs Frans Timmermans and members of the Dutch parliament's Foreign Policy Committee, Dulić was not optimistic.

"Unfortunately, all Dutch parties agree that the EU should not sign the SAA with Serbia until Mladić is extradited," he confirmed.

Dulić also said that the Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor, Serge Brammertz, whom he met yesterday, had a "somewhat more relaxed stance".

"Brammertz said that as far as he was concerned, Serbia's cooperation does not mean 'Mladić at the Hague', rather, that the process of the search and arrest is made transparent enough, with Serbia demonstrating a truly clear and practical political will to end this process as soon as possible," Dulić explained.

He also said he told his interlocutors that the authorities in Belgrade are aware they must continue the Hague cooperation and extradite General Mladić, "when they find him".

"But, we wished to stress that our experience and our position is that, in case those political forces gain power on May 11 who have, at least publicly, advocated against Mladić's arrest, Holland will face a problem, because what it wishes to see will not happen," he continued.

The DS delegation, Dulić said, "asked for a little more understanding for the difficult position we are in, especially since the general perception in Serbia lately is that there weren't many decision that could be considered just – above all the Dutch recognition of Kosovo and the shameful Haradinaj verdict".

"I have asked Brammertz to by all means appeal the Haradinaj ruling… We talked about the need for Serbia to send the prosecution all the necessary documentation about the crimes against the Serbs," Dulić said.

The DS official added that although the talks were "not easy", he "managed to convince his interlocutors that Serbia wants to finalize the Hague cooperation as soon as possible", as this is "important for the reconciliation in the region, and respect of the victims of the wars".

"We wish to remove the feeling of collective responsibility and guilt from us, that is ascribed to us eight years after Milošević's downfall," Dulić said about Serbia.

The DS delegation traveled to The Hague is a bid to continue the initiative to facilitate the road toward the signing of the SAA, started last week with a Dulić visit to Brussels, where he met with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Beta news agency said.