Mladic is arrested, official (?)

[CCIP]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13561407

Well now, if that really is him, that's quite a catch to come on the heels of Bin Laden's demise :hmmm:

[CCIP]

Well, according to the statement by Tadic being broadcasted now, it is indeed official. Good going :up:

[Gerald]

Finally ... have followed it there for a time at various distances, was a matter of time and now the results are captured.

[darius359au]

Seems to be a good run lately grabbing the bad guys that have been on the run for a long time.

[Betonov]

oooooh, we were hoping they would catch him dressed as a woman :cry:

[Skybird]

It seems that finally the desire to get fed by EU money fonds has beaten nationalistic pride.

Yes, I'm sure they really really did not know where he was in the past years. :yep:

Really! No kidding! :up:

Man, what else should I say! I'm serious!

Believe me!

[Torplexed]

oooooh, we were hoping they would catch him dressed as a woman :cry:

Too hideous to contemplate. Not to mention that it be one more crime against humanity to add to the list. :yep:

http://i39.tinypic.com/2motq2w.jpg

[CCIP]

I dunno Skybird. I don't think it's as simple as that, much as it's probably not as simple as that with Bin Laden and Pakistan. I think what remains to be seen is how much of an outcry from nationalists this will cause. My suspicion is that most of Serbia isn't going to care, and honestly I don't think it was in official interest there to keep him hidden. The difference with Bin Laden is that Mladic has been utterly irrelevant for over 10 years now.

[Betonov]

CCIP, when it comes to Serbia, IT IS that simple. They've been whealing and dealing their way trough history since the middle ages.

[Gerald]

I dunno Skybird. I don't think it's as simple as that, much as it's probably not as simple as that with Bin Laden and Pakistan. I think what remains to be seen is how much of an outcry from nationalists this will cause. My suspicion is that most of Serbia isn't going to care, and honestly I don't think it was in official interest there to keep him hidden. The difference with Bin Laden is that Mladic has been utterly irrelevant for over 10 years now. I agree with you both, but to say that the matter has been a priority in external organizations, to catch him, the country and the people have and are part of one of the reasons that he has been able to be on the run during this time, and that money he had, the contribution to be able to keep a fairly low profile.

[CCIP]

I guess I just don't see "why now". It seemed like the Tadic government had every interest in appeasing the EU with this ages ago, and little reason to fear backlash at home. Unless something new went on the table that I don't know about, I frankly don't see why now and not several years ago.

[Betonov]

Obama: we found bin Laden, top that
Tadic: can do

[CCIP]

Obama: we found bin Laden, top that
Tadic: can do

Fair enough. Now is not a bad time to cash in, that's for sure.

[Oberon]

:yeah::rock:

[Gerald]

I guess I just don't see "why now". It seemed like the Tadic government had every interest in appeasing the EU with this ages ago, and little reason to fear backlash at home. Unless something new went on the table that I don't know about, I frankly don't see why now and not several years ago. Yes, these designs are, of course, that you are on the political, in the far right, and that you are having trouble with the police infrastructure in the country to some extent, it is possible to draw some similarities in this, and at this level as after WWII when the country chasing their war criminals at any cost, with a better one today, and it's a sign of the underlying corruption and red tape that exists, that it has taken time.

[Skybird]

Why now?, CCIP asked.

This:

http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/serbia/serbia_economy.html


Reforms needed to ensure the country's long-term viability have largely stalled since the onset of the global financial crisis. Serbia is grappling with fallout from crisis, which has led to a sharp drop in exports to Western Europe and a decline in manufacturing output. Unemployment and limited export earnings remain ongoing political and economic problems. Serbia signed an augmented $4 billion Stand By Arrangement with the IMF in May 2009. IMF conditions on Serbia constrain the use of stimulus efforts to revive the economy, while Serbia's concerns about inflation and exchange rate stability preclude the use of expansionary monetary policy.

They need money from the EU more urgently than ever. That simple. Their small economic growth last year after several years of decline, if not free fall, could not compensate the losses of the past.

[CCIP]

Alright. I'm keeping my mind open, though honestly, I still don't think it's that simple. I also don't think that Mladic frankly matters politically, unless they make him matter. What counts to me is that someone who should stand trial for historic misdeeds will stand it, and I'll be glad of that.

[Betonov]

OK, here you go. Catherine Ashton is visiting Serbia at this time and conducting EU negotiations with Belgrade. I told you it was that simple

Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, will visit Serbia and Kosovo on 26 and 27 May 2011. During her visit Catherine Ashton will reaffirm the commitment of the European Union to the European perspective of both Serbia and Kosovo as well as the support for the ongoing Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, facilitated by the EU.*



*source
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/EN/foraff/122217.pdf

[Skybird]

Cynics would argue Ashton is not the reason for anything. :D

[Betonov]

Cynics are not Serbs.
They are actually pleasant people, hospitable, good food. Just don't mention the war. But proud. Blindly proud. They were never a great empire. In 1814 surounded by Ottoman empire, Austria-Hungary and Russia. And they survived. While Empires were breaking apart they were building one. Simply by BS-ing everyone. They know what their doing, If Ashton has some significance, they'll present her with a gift, they'll sweet-talk her. If Milosevich wan't such an impulsive jacka** they'd probibly convince NATO to help them annex the formes states back into the old Yugoslavia. It was a sentiment at that time in both hemispheres that the break up was a bad idea. But like I said, too much national pride and nationalism. They made themselves look like genocidal killers rather than the heir of Yugoslavia, trying to put her back together