More EU pressure needed to ensure Mladic capture.

5.29.03pm GMT Thu 23rd Feb 2006

Amidst widespread speculation over the capture of indicted war criminal Ratko Mladic, Liberal Democrat European justice spokeswoman Baroness Sarah Ludford, a member of the European Parliament delegation to the Balkans, said:

"The rumours and whispers of the last few days about the whereabouts of Mladic must now end in his arrest."

"The failure to arrest Mladic and his partner in crime Radovan Karadic is a major stumbling block in Serbia's bid for eventual EU membership. This is a serious disappointment to MEPs, who strongly support the EU ambitions of all Balkan states."

"The EU must implement Carla del Ponte's request to use its leverage to push Serbia to deliver Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal at the Hague, just as pressure on Croatia led to the arrest of the supposedly untraceable General Ante Gotovina."

"If necessary, this pressure may have to involve suspension of the talks on Serbia's EU association agreement, the launch of which were predicated on compliance with the Hague tribunal."