Herman van Rompuy: Serbia made an important step toward EU

President of the European Council Herman van Rompuy said in Brussels late on Monday that the arrest of Ratko Mladić was “a turning point”.

It was “an important step towards Serbia’s accession to the European Union”, said he.

At a joint press conference with visiting Serbian President Boris Tadić, van Rompuy pointed out that Mladić’s arrest was “a milestone for Serbia, the region and international justice”.

“By arresting and extraditing Ratko Mladić, Serbia made a significant step towards taking its rightful place in today’s Europe and realizing its European perspective,” van Rompuy said, reiterating his full support for Tadić’s European vision and commitment.

The EU president stressed that the road to the European Union would still be hard, but that Serbia had surmounted a huge obstacle and now had a new chance.