Serbia seeks EU talks date after Mladic transfer: Tadic

(BELGRADE) - Serbian President Boris Tadic said Wednesday Belgrade was pushing for talks on joining the European Union to start early next year, following the transfer of Ratko Mladic to a UN court.

"Reaching the date for accession talks is our strategic goal right now," Tadic told AFP in an exclusive interview.

"I hope that we are going to reach a date for the accession talks in the beginning of next year," he said.

Mladic was transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Tuesday to face genocide and war crimes charges.

He was arrested May 26 after 16 years on the run. Cooperation with the ICTY had been a key requirement for Serbia joining the 27-member European Union.

Tadic stressed that Serbia was not seeking special treatment from the European Union, only the same as accorded to Croatia which was accepted as a candidate EU member in 2004, with an immediate date for accession talks.

Tadic admitted Serbia still had to implement some important reforms to meet its requirements for joining the European Union, but said this should not stand in way of the start of accession talks.

"I think that Serbia, by capturing Ratko Mladic, by implementing all other reforms in the judiciary sector, in the sector of public property and other reforms, fighting corruption, restitution, is fulfilling all obligations," he said.

The European Union is set to announce in December whether Serbia can become a candidate member. It could then set a date for the start of accession talks.

Serbia did not "take for granted" that it would get candidacy status and a date for accession talks, Tadic said.

"We are not naive ... but we are asking to be treated like all other countries," he said.

Having arrested Mladic, Europe's most wanted fugitive, Tadic said Serbia would probe who had helped him hide.

"We are getting information on Mladic's hiding every day, every minute. The investigation into his hiding is underway," he said.

The president strongly rejected speculations that Belgrade knew Mladic's whereabouts, calling them "rubbish".

"It is out of the question that we knew where Ratko Mladic was. We paid an extremely high price every day of the investigation."

"We paid the price in the moral field, in the economic field, in terms of the position of my country in international institutions," Tadic insisted.

Serbia was under enormous international pressure to arrest Mladic, wanted for genocide and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia.

"But at the end of the day, this is over," Tadic said.

"Mladic is in the Hague tribunal and right now we are oriented towards finishing the case of Goran Hadzic," he said, referring to the Croatian Serb wartime leader who is now the last remaining fugitive from the ICTY. Hadzic is also believed to be hiding in Serbia.

Reliving last Thursday when he heard that Mladic was captured, Tadic said he realised that "D Day, this day" came at last.

"That (was the) kind of feeling I got after receiveing this telephone call."

His first thoughts afterwards, was that this would mean "a new Serbia."

"Serbia is not the same country (as it was) two days ago. This is a new Serbia fulfiling moral obligations, which is-- from my point of view-- the most important."

"We are fulfiling moral obligations, that is something different compared to the recent history of Serbia and the Balkans' people in general."

However, he continued, "if you ask me (whether) I expect that the international community is going to recognise that ... We'll see."