This leading international provider of credit ratings said on Friday that Mladic's arrest was a positive step for Serbia's efforts to integrate with the European Union, but that Belgrade must make additional efforts and apprehend the sole remaining war crimes fugitive, Goran Hadzic.
Mladic's apprehension does not directly impact Serbia's current credit rating and outlook which is put at BB/stable/B, the agency said.
This move, however, is seen as an important step forward towards Serbia's integration with the EU which also underpins its sovereign ratings, the S&P said, forecasting that Serbia would be given official status of EU candidate next year at the latest.
It believes that the current government will stay in power until the end of its term, that is until the next regular election, scheduled for 2012, despite the intensified internal pressure to be generated by probable protest rallies over Mladic's arrest and his prospective transfer to The Hague to stand trial before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on charges of genocide and other war crimes.