EXTRADITION OF SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC TO THE HAGUE TRIBUNAL

Ljubljana, 29 June 2001


On the request of Radio Slovenia and several press agencies the President of the Republic gave the following statement:

"The extradition of the former President of Serbia and the FRY to the Hague Tribunal has great legal and symbolic significance for the future of the Euroatlantic civilisation's system of values.

From now on, systematic mass violations of human rights in one's own state through the abuse of the sovereignty of a nation state will hopefully no longer be possible, as won't be the use of brute force outside one's borders in the exercise of the principle of 'one nation - one state'. In the case of Slobodan Milosevic the Hague Tribunal, established by the UN to try crimes against humanity on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, will determine culpability and deliver sentence.

It is through Slobodan Milosevic that the policy of a Greater Serbia in its purest form is now stepping before the Hague tribunal. This policy neither started off with him nor will it come to an end with the indictment and judgement, nor can it be narrowed down to being the responsibility of one single person.

The decision by the Serbian government to extradite Slobodan Milosevic to the Hague Tribunal was a courageous act. It endows us with hope that the policy which spread hatred through the former Yugoslavia in the name of the alleged interests of the Serbian nation will now see its final condemnation also by the Serbian public at large. Once the Serbs begin a process of self-questioning as to why all of this was able to happen, then solid foundations for peace, stability and democratic development also in present-day Serbia will be laid. There will also be less danger of aggressive nationalism in South East Europe. New possibilities for political solutions will emerge for the political resolution of the interethnic disputes and conflicts, which today pose a threat to Europe's stability as a whole. I do expect, however, that also other instigators of hatred in the Balkans will answer before the Hague Tribunal, regardless of what nation they belong to."