Serbs told to do their own homework

Serbian efforts to enlist the German security services in their bid to find suspected war criminals Radko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic have drawn a sceptical response from Brussels.

Serbia's Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic has suggested that the German Federal Intelligence Service, the BND, help catch the two men.

Both have been indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Speaking during a visit to Brussels on Tuesday (27 June) EU and United Nations special envoy to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Christian Schwartz-Schilling, said that both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia would have their own "homework" to do in meeting the tribunal's demands.

"I suspect that this is trying to move the concentration away from Serbia onto others outside," said Schwartz-Schilling.

In May the EU suspended negotiations with Serbia (then still in a state union with Montenegro) over Belgrade's failure to capture Mladic and Karadzic.

The talks, on a Stabili-sation and Association Agreement - a stepping stone to EU membership - are still frozen.

A Commission spokesperson said that it was important for Serbia to remove the obstacles that lie in the path of future EU integration.

"We want results", said Krisztina Nagy, a spokes-person for Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, "it is for Serbia to fully co-operate".

Diplomats from the EU's member states said in private that it was neces-sary for Serbian politicians to take full responsibility for capturing the men.

Others dismissed Draskovic's assertions that German intelligence could be better placed to find Mladic, whose where-abouts are allegedly known to some in the Serbian intelligence community.

"If they needed help they could have asked for it a long time ago," said Anton Nikiforov, a spokesman for the tribunal. "Those in the best position are the local services; foreign services are much less equipped," he added.

His comments came amid fears that following the suspension of talks with the EU and Montenegro's independence earlier this month, Serbia's reform efforts have stalled.

Serbian efforts to enlist the German security services in their bid to find suspected war criminals Radko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic have drawn a sceptical response from Brussels.