Minister bemoans "sticks but no carrots"

Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic says the country keeps getting sticks, "a little bit over Kosovo, a little bit over the Hague Tribunal". At the same time, Dacic, who is also the leader of the ruling SPS, complained in an interview for the Sarajevo-based Oslobodjenje daily that "carrots are nowhere to be seen". Minister bemoans "sticks but no carrots" “Our national and state interest are very often, and dangerously, threatened,” he said, and added that Serbia's problem is "exactly that it is constantly in such situations". Dacic stressed that Serbia had made a constructive effort regarding Kosovo and the resolution in the UN General Assembly, but that negative comments of Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz followed immediately. The interior minister therefore believes that all this could prompt "those who talk about EU integrations" to say that the country "did this but still did not do enough about other things”. “I think that’s the case with all countries of the former Yugoslavia, that this principle of stick is very often used and principle of carrot very little. Obviously, it’s the way it works at the international level,” he said. Commenting on the call for Hague indictees Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic to turn themselves in voluntarily, Dacic stressed that Serbia had so far extradited all Hague indictees except those two. “If Milosevic, Karadzic were (extradited), why wouldn’t they be too. This isn’t about Serbia wishing to hide anyone. I think that voluntary surrender is better for every country so as to avoid possible conflicts and victims. My invitation was in that sense,” he explained. In his opinion, Serbia has been brought into a situation that no matter what it does it remains a hostage of "such situations". “Serbia is really doing everything and we ourselves have invited people from the international community, from the biggest police and security services to see if Serbia is doing something wrong in methodology-wise to the search,” the minister pointed out. “And while they were writing the reports they were giving certain suggestions, and it was the reason for Brammertz to characterize in his previous report that Serbia is cooperating with the Hague Tribunal to the full extent, but of course we are also aware that when someone speaks about full cooperation they also mean the issue of arrests,” he explained. Dacic said that Serbian police had been checking all locations that they had received information about, including from the most important intelligence agencies but that it had turned out that none of them were correct. He emphasized that Serbia was interested in preservation of Bosnia-Herzegovina "and naturally of the Republic of Srpska as an entity within Bosnia". “We favor joint life in all countries that were constituted in the territory of the former Yugoslavia,” said Dacic. Ivica Dacic (Beta, file)

Minister bemoans "sticks but no carrots"

“Our national and state interest are very often, and dangerously, threatened,” he said, and added that Serbia's problem is "exactly that it is constantly in such situations".

Dačić stressed that Serbia had made a constructive effort regarding Kosovo and the resolution in the UN General Assembly, but that negative comments of Hague Tribunal Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz followed immediately.

The interior minister therefore believes that all this could prompt "those who talk about EU integrations" to say that the country "did this but still did not do enough about other things”.

“I think that’s the case with all countries of the former Yugoslavia, that this principle of stick is very often used and principle of carrot very little. Obviously, it’s the way it works at the international level,” he said.

Commenting on the call for Hague indictees Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić to turn themselves in voluntarily, Dačić stressed that Serbia had so far extradited all Hague indictees except those two.

“If Milošević, Karadžić were (extradited), why wouldn’t they be too. This isn’t about Serbia wishing to hide anyone. I think that voluntary surrender is better for every country so as to avoid possible conflicts and victims. My invitation was in that sense,” he explained.

In his opinion, Serbia has been brought into a situation that no matter what it does it remains a hostage of "such situations".

“Serbia is really doing everything and we ourselves have invited people from the international community, from the biggest police and security services to see if Serbia is doing something wrong in methodology-wise to the search,” the minister pointed out.

“And while they were writing the reports they were giving certain suggestions, and it was the reason for Brammertz to characterize in his previous report that Serbia is cooperating with the Hague Tribunal to the full extent, but of course we are also aware that when someone speaks about full cooperation they also mean the issue of arrests,” he explained.

Dačić said that Serbian police had been checking all locations that they had received information about, including from the most important intelligence agencies but that it had turned out that none of them were correct.

He emphasized that Serbia was interested in preservation of Bosnia-Herzegovina "and naturally of the Republic of Srpska as an entity within Bosnia".

“We favor joint life in all countries that were constituted in the territory of the former Yugoslavia,” said Dačić.