The European Union (EU) on Thursday welcomed the arrest of Stojan Zupljanin, a key Bosnian Serb war crime fugitive wanted by a UN tribunal in The Hague.
"The apprehension of Mr. Zupljanin is an important step towards Serbia meeting in full the condition of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia," a statement from the Slovenian EU Presidency said.
The statement urged the Serbian authorities to strengthen their efforts to that end so that Serbia could advance further on its path to the EU.
The Presidency asked to have the suspect transferred to The Hague without delay.
Zupljanin, one of the four remaining Bosnian Serb war crime fugitives most wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, was arrested near the Serbian capital Belgrade Wednesday.
The 56-year-old suspect was charged with crimes against humanity for killing Muslims and Croats when he was the Bosnian Serb police commander during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Other fugitives on the run are the wartime Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, his army commander General Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic, the Serb rebel leader in Croatia.
Their arrests are one of the key conditions for Serbia's access to the EU. A pre-entry accord signed between Serbia and the EU on April 29 will not be implemented unless Belgrade fully cooperates with the UN tribunal, said EU officials.
Source:Xinhua
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