"Serbia does not have to send the war crimes suspects to The Hague for the sake of the United States or the European Union or for economic reasons. They must be handed over because that is in the best interests of the future of the Serbian people," Tadic said in an interview published in the Sunday edition of the Politika daily.
"Serbia has cooperated in certain ways. It has sent some twenty people to The Hague. It sent Milosevic, which was the most difficult decision. On the other hand, there are other war crimes suspects who have not been sent. Some generals have not been sent," he added.
Tadic said that Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, who "particularly emphasises that he respects the rule of law", should also fulfil all his responsibilities, because any failure to do so would "undermine Serbia's positions".
Tadic warned that "there is no time to wait. Time ran out a few months ago, as did the deadline given to the suspects to surrender voluntarily."
The President of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, said in an interview with Vecernje Novosti that "ten million people in Serbia and Montenegro have been arrested at the door of European future. They cannot go forward, because Brussels thinks that we have not fulfilled our obligations towards The Hague. In my opinion this poses a much greater danger of destabilisation of the country than the arrest of any of the ICTY indictees."
Asked if he believed the authorities when they told him that Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic was not hiding in Serbia under the army's protection, Marovic replied: "I would like it to be that way."