Europe News
Row after Dutch foreign minister postpones Serbia visit
Jul 10, 2009, 11:46 GMT
Belgrade - The Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has postponed a planned visit to Belgrade after an apparent dispute over whether Serbia's controversial bid to join the EU was on the agenda, Serbian media said Friday.
Verhagen's spokesman in the Hague issued a terse statement on Thursday announcing that the planned July 21 visit would be delayed.
Relations between the two countries have been tense since the Srebrenica massacre 14 years ago this month, where Serbian soldiers massacred Muslim men and boys under Dutch safekeeping.
The entire Dutch government later resigned after being found responsible for failing to protect the civilian camp.
Serbian sources say Verghagen's visit was delayed when Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic has said Verhagen would discuss Serbia's blocked bid for European Union membership and its cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal.
The Hague insists that neither topic was agreed for the agenda. According to the Daily Blic, the Netherlands regarded Cvetkovic's statements as undue 'pressure.'
A new visit may be scheduled after the summer recess, reports said.
The Netherlands has blocked Serbia's stabilization and association agreement with the EU over its failure to bring two war crime suspects to justice, principally the Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic.
Mladic is believed the most responsible for the massacre of 8,000 Muslims in the Bosnian town Srebrenica 14 years ago. During the 1992-95 Bosnia n war, Srebrenica was a UN safe haven protected by Dutch troops.
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Older Talkback
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I dont know why I even am bothering to post this comment up its not like its going to make a difference, the west will always report as it feels like and will keep trying to destroy Serbia until it succeeds. First of all its not 8000, this is a grocely exaturated number that was made up by the clinton administration at the time. Seoncdly it is more like 2000 and even worse most of those were actually bosnian soldiers that were hiding under a un protectoret thinking that that this was a great place to hide as the serbs wouldn\'t find out. There were some cilivians that were caught in the crossfire but thats just war. If you want to know about the Real Srebrenica massacre click here real-srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/ - This is not for the faint harted, so you have been warned.
the dutch demand serbia reconcile with everyone in the former jugoslavia but they cant reconcile with serbia after getting slapped around in bosna 14 yrs ago ....keep it up ...serbia is muchhhhh stronger today then in 1995 :))))) netherlands get over itttttttttt!!!
I compliment the Dutch on their principled and honorable stand regarding their policy towards Serbia. The facts are clear and they show that the Serbs are entirely and fully responsible for the genocide that was committed by them against unarmed Bosniak civilians in Srebrenica. The Dutch failed in their mission to protect those civilians but today they are trying to redeem themselves by bringing those responsible for it to justice. Serbia needs to stop lying to the world and to itself, nobody is fooled by their statements that they don't know where Mladic is since it was proven that they were aware of his whereabouts in 2006 and it is almost certain that they know where he is today. He needs to be arrested and handed over by the Serb authorities. That is their international obligation and until it is fulfilled in its enirety the government of the Netherlands has every moral right and resonsiblility to prevent the Serbian government form joining the EU. The EU does not need to do business with regimes that aid and abet war criminals like Mladic.
Instead of spending all their energy on trying to put pressure on the Netherlands the Serbian government should fulfill its obligations and arrest the war criminal Ratko Mladic. It is unacceptable for the Serbian government to be aiding and abetting that war criminal 14 years after he orchestrated the worst attrocity in Europe since the Holocaust when the Serb soldiers under his command murdered 8000 innocent and unarmed Bosniak civilians, who believed that the UN would protect them. The Srebrenica genocide is a big stain on the moral consciousness of the EU and the Netherlands is trying to to the right thing by insisting that Serbia fulfill its international obligations. Mladic needs to be arrested by the Serbian authorities so that he can face justice for the genocide he committed. No more staling for time. No more lies. Mladic needs to be arrested and punished for his atrocious crimes against the Bosniaks and all of humanity.
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miconiJul 10th, 2009 - 13:46:18
Dutch are hypocrites. Serbia was acquited for events in Srebrenica. Dutch soldiers also failed to prevent massacre of Serbs in villages around Srebrenica, and the Hague tribunal acquited muslim commander responsible for that genocide Naser Oric. AT LEAST 3000 SERBS KILLED, AND NO WESTERN MEDIA EVER REPORTED! Perhaps their lives are not that important because they are Serbs...
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