Ratko Mladić “Found” And Captured
The arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladić comes at an extremely crucial moment for Serbia. At a time when Croatia is apparently on the verge of having been given a fixed date for EU entry, when Chief Prosecutor at the Hague Tribunal Serge Brammertz said that Serbia has not done nearly enough to catch the two main remaining war criminals (Mladić and Goran Hadžić), at the time when the EU is considering reintroducing visas for some Balkan countries including, apparently, Serbia, it would seem that Belgrade had no choice but to take the issue of general Ratko Mladić off the table.
Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić. Both captured
Now, there’s always the possibility of pieces just falling into place. After all the United States found Osama Bin Laden after ten years not far (relatively speaking) from where he was in the first place. But this being Balkans and all, you’ll forgive me if I remain my cynical self.
Ratko Mladić was hiding under an alias Milorad Komadić in a village called Lazarevo. According to tweets by @Belgrade (editor of belgraded.com) Mladić was “found” in a village mostly inhabited by people from Mladić region of birth (a Serbian village South-East of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina) and was brazen enough to use only a modification of his real name as an alias: Milorad Komadić. You either need balls of steel or (at the very least) tacit goverment support to do something like that.
You’ll remember that basically the same thing happened with Radovan Karadžić, who (using the assumed name of Dragan Dabić) lived in Belgrade practically under everyone’s noses. Point being that both Karadžić and Mladić were trump cards Serbian government used whenever it found itself cornered by the EU. While there’s still the capture of Goran Hadžić to attend to, the EU and (most likely) the United States will quite possibly grant certain concession to Serbia on a quid-pro-quo basis.
And this is basically it. What we saw today was – in my opinion – a closure of a deal where Serbian government bargained hard and most likely got what it wanted. EU foreign minister high representative for foreign affairs Catherine Ashton would not be in Belgrade today had there not been some sort of an agreement made. Although people tend to look down on her it is possible (and I’m only speculating here) that she had two envelopes with her: one if Serbia played ball, the other if it didn’t.
And just to put conspiracy theories to rest: The fact that European Parliament reporter for Serbia, Slovene MEP Jelko Kacin said only earlier today that Serbia will not be granted candidate status without Mladić arrest in all likelyhood is a coincidence 
Anyways, Ratko Mladić is apparently on his way to The Hague where he will once again be united with Radovan Karadžić. The Duo Horribilis will stand trial for war crimes just in time for the ICTY to complete its charter. Hopefully, they will not follow their political mentor Slobodan Milošević and take their own lives, but will be tried and convicted for their crimes so that hundreds of thousands of people upon whom they brought untold horror and suffering may finally find some sort of inner peace.
May whatever god they might believe in have mercy on their souls. They will find little forgiveness on this Earth.
May 26th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
A ni Slobo umrl naravne smrti?
May 26th, 2011 at 2:39 pm
With a little help of bad medicine…
May 26th, 2011 at 2:45 pm
Mhja, ampak jaz imam bolj na sumu, da so ga fentali, ne da se je sam, ker case proti njemu pa še zdaleč ni bil vodotesen… za razliko od teh proti Mladiću in Karadžiću. Blamaža bi bila pa prevelika, če bi ga morali na koncu v kakšni točki oprostit.
May 26th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
[...] that Serbian authorites simply had to catch Mladic. Commenting on this, Sleeping With Pengovsky writes: The arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladić comes at an extremely crucial moment for Serbia. [...]
May 26th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
[...] that Serbian authorites simply had to catch Mladic. Commenting on this, Sleeping With Pengovsky writes: The arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladić comes at an extremely crucial moment for Serbia. [...]
May 26th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
And, hey, the Serbs managed to capture, NOT KILL Mladic so he could stand trial, unlike some other dudes, who captured and then managed to kill some other other dude before he could stand trial.
May 26th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Well, there’s a difference. What the Americans did was an act of revenge. Perhaps a more fitting comparison is the suicide (or assisted suicide, as Peter implies above) of Slobodan Milošević, the case against whom was a bit shaky and who then conveniently died mid-trial.
May 26th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
[...] dat de Servische autoriteiten alleen nog maar Mladic hoefden te arresteren. Sleeping With Pengovsky schrijft hierover: De arrestatie van de voortvluchtige oorlogsmisdadiger Ratko Mladić vindt plaats op een zeer [...]
May 26th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
[...] that Serbian authorites simply had to catch Mladic. Commenting on this, Sleeping With Pengovsky writes: The arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladić comes at an extremely crucial moment for Serbia. [...]
May 26th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
[...] fosse la cattura di Mladić . Commentando proprio questo aspetto, Sleeping With Pengovsky scrive: L'arresto per crimini di guerra di Ratko Mladić, da tempo ricercato, arriva in un momento [...]
May 26th, 2011 at 6:55 pm
[...] that Serbian authorites simply had to catch Mladic. Commenting on this, Sleeping With Pengovsky writes: The arrest of war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladić comes at an extremely crucial moment for Serbia. [...]
May 26th, 2011 at 7:30 pm
[...] annak, hogy a szerb hatóságoknak muszáj volt Mladicsot elfognia. A Sleeping With Pengovsky kommentárja [en]: A szökött háborús bűnös, Ratko Mladics elfogása Szerbia számára különösen fontos [...]
May 27th, 2011 at 8:11 am
[...] fosse la cattura di Mladić . Commentando proprio questo aspetto, Sleeping With Pengovsky scrive: L’arresto per crimini di guerra di Ratko Mladić, da tempo ricercato, arriva in un momento [...]
May 27th, 2011 at 10:57 pm
[...] su srpske vlasti jednostavno morale da uhvate Mladića. Komentarišući ovo, Spavanje sa Pengovskim piše: Hapšenje begunca Ratka Mladića dolazi u veoma važnom trenutku za Srbiju. U vreme kada je [...]
May 28th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
[...] się to cause célèbre, a serbscy politycy poprostu musieli złapać Mladica. Komentuje to wpis na Sleeping With Pengovsky: Aresztowanie odpowiedzialnego za zbrodnie wojenne zbiega Ratko Mladića [...]
May 29th, 2011 at 1:41 am
[...] τον Mladic. Σχολιάζοντας αυτό ακριβώς, το Sleeping With Pengovsky γράφει: Η σύλληψη του φυγά εγκληματία πολέμου Ratko Mladić έρχεται [...]
June 6th, 2011 at 6:01 am
[...] hevitra momba izany, Sleeping With Pengovsky nanoratra hoe: Tonga tamin'ny fotoana lehibe indrindra ho an'i Serbia ny fisamborana an'ilay mpamono [...]
September 23rd, 2011 at 11:28 am
[...] with pengovsky は次のように述べている。 [...]
February 17th, 2012 at 10:01 am
[...] Младич. Коментитајќи на ова, Спиејќи со Пенговски пишува: Апсењето на воениот криминален бегалец Ратко Младич [...]