Bulgaria: Serbia Should Get EU Candidate Status after Hadzic Arrest

Handout photo made available 20 July 2011 shows Serbian war crimes suspect Goran Hadzic as he is being arrested in Fruska Gora national park close to the village of Krusedol, 60 km west of Belgrade, 20 July 2011. EPA/BGNES

Bulgaria has congratulated Serbia for Wednesday's by Serbia of Goran Hadzic, the last suspect for war crimes and crimes against humanity wanted by the International Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia.

"We are welcoming sincerely the arrest of Goran Hadzic – a result of decisive and consistent efforts of the Serbian leadership for fulfilling its commitments to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia," the Spokesperson of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Vesela Cherneva said in a statement.

Hadzic is the last of a total of 161 Serbian citizens accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Hague Tribunal, she noted.

"Today, the Republic of Serbia has closed a difficult page from its history. This act is a part of the reconciliation process of the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, and a reinforcement of the rule of law in the region", Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said.

Cherneva has further welcomed Hadzic's arrest as "an important step on the Republic of Serbia's European road."

"Today's news is a further argument in favor of an upcoming decision of the European Union with which Serbia should receive the status of an EU candidate state," she concludes.

Hadzic was arrested in the village of Krusedol, 60 km west of Belgrade on 20 July 2011, the Serbian President Boris Tadic confirmed at a media conference.

Hadzic, one of the leaders of the Serb insurgency in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 in the wake of the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation, was the last remaining fugitive sought by the UN war crimes tribunal.

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