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Europe Taming the Balkans
The assimilation of ex-Yugoslavia by the European Union progresses steadily. Slovenia is already a member. Croatia is starting negotiations. Now Macedonia has been recognised as a candidate for membership by the Council of Ministers. This was part of the budget deal and was a concession by France who was supposedly opposed to the idea. French opposition seems to have been a negotiating ploy and a sop to those in France who believe that EU expansion has to stop. It is hard to believe that the French Government is really opposed to the absorption of this cluster of ex-Communist countries into the EU. Strategically, it is vital to the stability of the highly exposed eastern wing of the Union that now reaches to the Black Sea. A power vacuum there would be an invitation to disaster. Ethnic conflict is never far below the surface. The continued poverty of the area generates troublesome emigration. Despite past confusion, dithering and difficulties, the EU is encouraged and accompanied in its efforts by the United States and the United Nations. This is very much Europe's backyard. The Austrian presidency as of January 1 will ensure that the subject receives plenty of attention. There remains a close link with the Western Balkans from the days of the AustroHungarian Empire. War hero arrested Croatian General Ante Gotovina has at last been arrested in a holiday resort on the island of Tenerife. He was not, after all, hiding in a monastery as alleged by Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the Special Criminal Court for ex-Yugoslavia. Prosecuting a leading Croat was important for the court's credibility in the eyes of the Serbs. The arrest, attended by TV cameras, came shortly
after the deal by which Croatia was allowed to start negotiations to join the European Union. The ease and speed with which he was found suggests that the Croatian Government reluctantly to decided reveal his whereabouts. The 50-year-old former French Foreign Legionnaire is immensely popular in Croatia, where he led a brilliant offensive to recover territory from the Serbs, and 40,000 people demonstrated in Zagreb against his arrest. He is accused of assassinating 150 Serb civilians between 1991 and 1995 during the Serbo- Croat war. No date has been set for the trial. Governmental dilemma At the same time in Belgrade the Serbian Government has set up a special tribunal of its own and convicted 14 former soldiers of murdering at least 200 Croatian prisoners at Vukovar in 1991. Sentences of up to 20 years were imposed. The Serbian Government is anxious to prove that the Hague court is not necessary. It certainly creates a dilemma for both Serb and Croat Governments. Noncooperation means refusal of desperately needed, international help. Cooperation means trouble at home with large sections of the population who strongly sympathise with the various accused and resent outside interference. In particular, the legally dubious handing over of Slobodan Milosovitch to the tribunal almost certainly led to the assassination of Serb Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic. The world's diplomats would probably be inclined to sweep the awful Balkan past under the carpet if the dynamic Carla del Ponte would let them. However, she is known as a fanatic in her job and is now pressing all concerned for the capture of th...