Ljajić: Massive hunt for Mladić

Rasim Ljajic claims that Serbia’s doing everything it can to track down the Hague’s most wanted fugitive, Ratko Mladic. "Never before has there been a more serious, more thorough search for Ratko Mladic,” the president of the National Council for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal told Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti, adding that there were still no new leads in the case. Ljajic: Massive hunt for Mladic Ljajic said that operations like last week’s in Valjevo would continue in the days and weeks to come “until we get Mladic.” He believes that Hague Tribunal’s Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s report to the UN Security Council will be “highly objective.” "I believe that Brammertz will state that the political will exists in Serbia to complete cooperation with the Tribunal because he has seen for himself the seriousness of the actions that we’ve undertaken,” the National Council president said. Ljajic said that he doubted that Brammertz would use terms such as “positive or negative, when it comes to Serbia’s cooperation with the Tribunal.” "Brammertz is not someone that can shape the EU’s position, because his report will not be political, nor does he want it to have political implications,” he said. Ljajic said that “the problem is that Holland no longer insists on just a positive Brammertz report but on Serbia’s full cooperation with The Hague, which, for the Dutch, “means Mladic in The Hague.” "There are only two ways for Serbia to continue its EU path – either Holland to change its position, which is less likely, or Serbia to extradite Mladic,” he said. Asked whether the extradition of Goran Hadzic would satisfy the Dutch, Ljajic said that Hadzic was being looked for, but added that he was not sure whether it would be enough for the Netherlands to change its position. Rasim Ljajic (Tanjug archive)

Ljajić: Massive hunt for Mladić

Ljajić said that operations like last week’s in Valjevo would continue in the days and weeks to come “until we get Mladić.”

He believes that Hague Tribunal’s Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz’s report to the UN Security Council will be “highly objective.”

"I believe that Brammertz will state that the political will exists in Serbia to complete cooperation with the Tribunal because he has seen for himself the seriousness of the actions that we’ve undertaken,” the National Council president said.

Ljajić said that he doubted that Brammertz would use terms such as “positive or negative, when it comes to Serbia’s cooperation with the Tribunal.”

"Brammertz is not someone that can shape the EU’s position, because his report will not be political, nor does he want it to have political implications,” he said.

Ljajić said that “the problem is that Holland no longer insists on just a positive Brammertz report but on Serbia’s full cooperation with The Hague, which, for the Dutch, “means Mladić in The Hague.”

"There are only two ways for Serbia to continue its EU path – either Holland to change its position, which is less likely, or Serbia to extradite Mladić,” he said.

Asked whether the extradition of Goran Hadžić would satisfy the Dutch, Ljajić said that Hadžić was being looked for, but added that he was not sure whether it would be enough for the Netherlands to change its position.