Tiskane izdaje
Now, finally, Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general who masterminded that butchery, is where he should be -
in custody, facing prosecution before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and, we hope, a lifetime in prison.
The arrest should be a warning to other butchers that they, too, will be caught and held to account, no matter
how long it takes. It is also a reminder that sustained international pressure works. Europe's leaders made Mr. Mladic's capture and delivery to The Hague a condition for Serbia's admission to the European Union.
For more than 15 years, Mr. Mladic managed to evade capture, almost certainly with the help of some Serbian officials. Serbia's president, Boris Tadic, is a new sort of leader, and, last year, Serbia finally accepted responsibility for the Srebrenica massacre and apologized.
With the capture of Mr. Mladic, he has proved his sincerity. Europe now has to prove its sincerity and move Serbia's application to the European Union forward.
We hope the arrest will also facilitate reconciliation among Bosnia's ethnic factions. There is plenty of blame. But
the Bosnian Serb leadership in particular needs to abandon its fantasies about dismantling the multiethnic Bosnian state. It has few friends left in Belgrade and none anywhere else.
There is one more fugitive wanted for war crimes: Goran Hadzic. President Tadic vowed that he, too, will be
arrested. But Mr. Mladic is the last of the big three butchers. Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb political leader is on trial in The Hague on charges of genocide.
Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian president and the war's architect, died in 20 06 whi le his t r ial was under way. It is small solace for the dead, but these ruthless men ultimately are being made to answer for their crimes.
