US suspends aid to Serbia
B92 - April 1, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Thursday – The United States has confirmed the temporary suspension of aid to Serbia-Montenegro because of its inadequate cooperation with the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has concluded “he cannot certify to Congress that Serbia-Montenegro is cooperating with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and as a result, as of March 31, new assistance for Serbia will stop,” State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told a press conference.

“We call on the authorities in Belgrade to cooperate fully with the tribunal by arresting and transferring their fugitive indictees, particularly Ratko Mladic, to face justice before the tribunal," he added.

Belgrade has met the criteria for aid for the past three years. Ereli said that in previous years, there was greater cooperation in terms of extraditing suspects. “This year, Serbia has done nothing to arrest and transfer known and very notorious tribunal indictees,” he said.

Ereli specified that about 57 million of the original 100 million dollars allocated to Belgrade this year could be subject to the suspension. However, aid for humanitarian purposes, Kosovo and the promotion of democracy were all exempt, he added.

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