Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

In the absence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Seán Haughey. The objective of this matter is to establish the current position of the Irish Government regarding the Brammertz report to be laid before the United Nations in December which reports on the efforts of the Serbian Government to arrest two significant war criminals who have been indicted by the International Court of Justice at the Hague.

My specific interest is in General Mladic. At the beginning of this month, Serbian police forces carried out raids on three locations which have not been universally welcomed by military analysts in Belgrade and in the wider European Continent. It is being suggested that due to the imminent visit of Mr. Brammertz this week the Serbian Government yet again wished to be seen to be proactive in this regard. In fairness to the Serbian Government, I understand it has significantly increased the reward money leading to the capture of this war criminal, Mladic, and this may have been the reason the police search was carried out.

I am anxious to explore with the Minister of State the Irish Government's position regarding the Dutch parliamentary foreign affairs and European affairs committees which are strongly in favour of suspending any further discussions on Serbian EU membership until and unless the war criminals named, in particular General Mladic, are delivered by the Serbian Government. I appreciate the sensitivities of the Dutch in this regard as it was a Dutch contingent under the UN flag which failed to protect the people of Srebrenica in 1996, resulting in the massacre of almost 8,000 men and young boys. I understand why the Dutch are now anxious to be seen even more on the side of the angels than the rest of us. I do not wish to be ungracious to the Dutch parliamentary committees which have taken this position. I appreciate that Serbia is now led by a moderate government which must be given every encouragement, particularly against the ultra-nationalist forces which are still very active within the country.

It is also of concern to those who are following and monitoring developments in the Balkans. I pay tribute to Peter Walsh and Valerie Hughes in particular, who have been flying the flag in this regard for the Serbian issue, for the wider Balkans and for the protection of human rights and the orderly and political development of that region. There is concern that the future of Bosnia-Herzegovina is under threat because of the multi-ethnic nature of its Government and the existence of the Republic of Srpska and the fact that ultra-nationalist forces are working to undermine both the continuing existence of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina and also the current Serbian Government. I ask, therefore, for a statement of the Government's position. I hope it would side with the Dutch in this regard. We have a proud record of human rights.