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In Belgrade, Bildt says Karadzic is ‘Poisoning the Political Atmosphere’
BELGRADE, May 20 (Reuters) — International mediator Carl Bildt arrived in Belgrade on Monday to press Serbia to remove hardline Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, whom he accused of “poisoning” the peace process. Bildt, the international community's High Representative to Bosnia, said he planned to meet Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and remind him of his commitments under the Dayton peace accord to ensure Karadzic steps down from office.
Diplomats say Milosevic, patron of the Bosnian Serbs, has made promises about ousting his former protege but has so failed to deliver. The international community for the moment was not ready to reimpose economic sanctions on Serbia for failing to carry out provisions of the peace accord, Bildt said. “We would hope that would be avoided,” Bilt told the radio. But he added: “The Security Council has retained that option.”
Despite Karadzic's attempts to reassert his power, Bildt reiterated his belief that the hardline leader in Bosnian Serb territory was approaching his political demise.
“I think Dr Karadzic is very clearly at the beginning of the end of his political life. He knows that. But the exact modalities under which this will happen remains to be sorted out,” Bildt said.
Karadzic and the commander of the Bosnian Serb army, General Ratko Mladic, have been indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague and are required to relinquish power under terms of the peace accord. Both men have refused to quit office but Bildt and the international community have focused their efforts on ousting Karadzic and rarely mentioned Mladic, who has kept a low profile in recent months.
Bildt later told reporters that Mladic posed less of an immediate problem because as an army commander he was not able to obstruct civilian aspects of the peace treaty. “The difference between the two is that Mr Karadzic is actively disrupting the (peace) process in a way that the position General Mladic holds does not allow him to,” he said. “As we approach the elections the position of Mr Karadzic is very critical.
“By his activities he's poisoning the political atmosphere and accordingly threatening the very political process that is going to lead us up to elections.” The Dayton accord calls for free elections to be held in Bosnia by September.
The Italian foreign ministry, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said on Monday it had told the Belgrade government it was worried about the situation in the Bosnian Serb republic and fully supported Bildt.
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“He (Milosevic) has signed the peace agreement and he has a very distinct responsibility for the implementation of every single part of it,” Bildt said in an interview with independent B-92 radio in Belgrade. “There are no exceptions,” said Bildt, who is charged with carrying out the civilian side of the Dayton accord.
Berserkistan, May 20 · European Union Worried over Karadzic Situation
Berserkistan, May 20 · Solana Says Bildt Talks Accomplish Karadzic Removal
Berserkistan, May 20 · Kradzic Shifts Some Duties, but Won't Step Down
Berserkistan, May 20 · Bosnian Serbs Float Karadzic Referendum Idea
Berserkistan, May 20 · Bildt Has 'Understanding' from Karadzic
Berserkistan, May 20 · The Karadzic Proxy: Biljana Plavsic
Berserkistan, May 20 · Bildt Insists Removal of Karadzic is Proceeding
Berserkistan, May 20 · Karadzic is winning. Carl Bildt is losing. Analysis by Tom Warrick of the Coalition for International Justice
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