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News item | 23-07-2008
The Dutch government is delighted with the arrest of Radovan Karadzic. The Netherlands hopes that he will shortly appear before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is 'very happy' with Karadzic's arrest. The Netherlands has done its utmost to bring the former Bosnian Serb leader before the Tribunal to answer for his actions in the 1990s, including in Srebrenica.
The victims of those atrocities, and their families, have the right to see that Karadzic answers for his actions, said the Prime Minister.
Foreign affairs minister Maxime Verhagen said that Karadzic's arrest was 'very good news' and 'of incalculable importance for his victims and their families'. He is gratified that he kept up the pressure on Serbia to cooperate with the Tribunal.
Mr Verhagen also considers the arrest as a 'major step forward', but more will have to be done to ensure for full cooperation with the ICTY.
The Netherlands will continue to urge the extradition of Ratko Mladic, Chief of Staff of the Bosnian Serb army, and Goran Hadzic, former president of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. And it will also call for a programme to protect witnesses.
22-07-2008