BELGRADE, April 6 (Hina) - The former US ambassador to Belgrade, William Montgomery, has voiced concern over growing nationalism in Serbia and said that steps taken by the new government are only making the country's journey towards
the European Union and NATO more difficult.
BELGRADE, April 6 (Hina) - The former US ambassador to Belgrade,
William Montgomery, has voiced concern over growing nationalism in
Serbia and said that steps taken by the new government are only making
the country's journey towards the European Union and NATO more
difficult.#L#
"I am very concerned about the political situation in Serbia today,
primarily about the position of the new government towards the Hague
tribunal, or rather the lack of cooperation with the tribunal and
disregard for matters that are of concern to us in the West. In my
estimate, this government will not have much success," Montgomery told
the Belgrade-based Blic daily in an interview published on Tuesday.
"The problem is should this government fall, the Radicals could come
to power," he said.
Speaking of the US policy of making financial aid to Serbia
conditional on war crimes suspects being arrested and handed over to
the UN criminal tribunal in The Hague, Montgomery said: "As for the
policy of blackmail, it has yielded good results: several war crimes
suspects are already in The Hague. This kind of policy, however, has
its price because it has antagonised the Serbs against America and is
increasingly serving the purposes of nationalist parties in Serbia.
That's why I think the policy of conditions and blackmail is becoming
less and less effective by the year and has become more and more
counterproductive over time," the former ambassador said.
Montgomery said that "no one, absolutely no one" knew for sure the
whereabouts of the two most wanted war crimes suspects, Bosnian Serb
wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko
Mladic.
"Our efforts to find out where Karadzic and Mladic are hiding have so
far been unsuccessful. Such statements by (tribunal chief prosecutor)
Carla del Ponte are very dangerous and highly counterproductive.
However, I think it is very important to apprehend them and hand them
over to The Hague, because that will put an end to the problem of war
criminals in Serbia," he concluded.
(Hina) vm