Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 18: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if prior to bringing the Bill on Serbia's stabilisation and association agreement before the Oireachtas, he will agree to re-issue an invitation to the head of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Mr Serge Brammertz, to meet with the Oireachtas foreign affairs committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13860/11]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I am considering the question of Ireland's ratification of the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement and will discuss the matter with my Government colleagues in the normal manner before proceeding. As regards an invitation to Mr Brammertz to address members of the Dáil, such an invitation would be a matter for the House.

The EU's Stabilisation and Association Process represents the first step in helping the countries in the region move towards eventual membership. Each country's progress towards the EU depends on its individual efforts to comply with the criteria for EU accession, and on the fulfilment of agreed political and economic criteria under the Stabilisation and Association Process. Full cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a key condition of Stabilisation and Association Process. The requirement for full cooperation with the ICTY is included in the text of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia under Articles 2 and 4.

Cooperation with the ICTY by the governments in the region is an essential part of the process of securing long term peace and stability in the Western Balkans. Ireland and its EU partners have consistently urged the Serbian Government to take all the necessary measures to apprehend the ICTY indictees.

In this context, I welcome the arrest on 26 May of Ratko Mladic and his transfer to the Tribunal in The Hague on 31 May. I want to pay tribute to the efforts of President Tadic and the Serbian Government in securing the arrest of Mladic. His arrest represents another important step in addressing the appalling atrocities committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. His trial at the ICTY in The Hague can help further the cause of true reconciliation in the Western Balkans region.