Pressure Mounts to Dump Karadzic, Mladic
BONN, May 14 (Reuters) — German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel will meet Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade on Thursday in a bid to speed up implementation of the Dayton peace pact, Bonn's Foreign Ministry said. However, a ministry spokesman denied reports that Kinkel had received a brief from his European Union counterparts to pressure Milosevic into arresting hardline Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and military commander Ratko Mladic. Both men have been charged with war crimes by the international tribunal on former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
"Of course the issue of war criminals will be a general topic for the talks but it is not clear at all in what specific way it will be addressed," the spokesman said. He added, however, that Kinkel was likely to discuss the continued strong influence of Karadzic and Mladic, still in power despite being banned from office under the terms of the Dayton pact.
Apart from meeting Milosevic, Kinkel will also see Serbian Foreign Minister Milan Milutinovic and representatives of opposition parties and minority groups. Talks will focus on all aspects of Dayton, the peace accord which ended the Bosnian war late last year, with the emphasis on issues such as the return of refugees from the Bosnian conflict, the ministry said.
It said the trip was part of a coordinated EU approach to help stabilise the situation in the former Yugoslavia. The visit also follows meetings between Kinkel and the leaders of Bosnia and Croatia earlier this year. Other issues for discussion will include Germany's future relationship with the Yugoslav republic and the return of refugees living in Germany.
Press reports had suggested Kinkel planned to tell Milosevic that the Serbian president, not NATO's peace implementation force in Bosnia, was responsible for arresting Karadzic and Mladic.
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