After nearly 13 years on the run, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic made his first appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Holland.

On Thursday, Karadzic was read the 11 counts of war crimes, including genocide, with which he is charged. He notified the court that he intends to represent himself, and declined to enter a plea. He has 30 day to do so. Judge Alphons Orie adjourned the case until Aug. 29.

Karadzic was arrested last week in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, shortly after a pro-European Union Serbian government was sworn in. The Serbian Foreign Minister, Vuk Jeremic, said this week that extraditing war crime suspects is Serbia's legal and moral obligation.

There were demonstrations against Karadzic's extradition in Belgrade on Wednesday. Forty people, many of them police, were hurt. Serb ultranationalists consider Karadzic a hero and the ICTY a kangaroo court, biased against Serbs.

Irregularities

During his appearance, Karadzic attempted to read a statement, but Judge Orie only allowed him two minutes to address the court. Karadzic sent the statement to Judge Orie on Thursday. It was published on Friday. Karadzic claims his arrest had been "accompanied by many drastic irregularities." He complains that a "media witch hunt" has made it "unimaginable" that he will be acquitted.

Karadzic also claims that he made a deal with Richard Holbrooke, the United States diplomat who brokered the end of the Bosnian conflict. He claims he was offered immunity from prosecution if he disappeared from public life. On Thursday, Holbrooke described this to the BBC as "laughable."

"There was never any deal to give him immunity from capture, it was simply that NATO failed to capture him. That's NATO's failure, not a deal," Holbrooke said.

EU's Luke Warm Reaction

The EU signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with Serbia in April. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has called for the implementation of the trade-related part of this agreement. However, on Tuesday, EU ambassadors failed to do this. The Netherlands, in particular, insists that the ICTY chief prosecutor first confirm that Serbia is fully cooperating with the tribunal.

The new Serbian government has promised to fulfil the desires of many Serbs for stability and prosperity. It has set membership of the EU as a priority. It sees the EU accession process and membership a way of reordering Serbian society to become a "normal" European country. On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Delic said Serbia will have to be ready for EU entry by 2012. Ultranationalist elements in Serbia oppose this.

EU Response Needed

It is difficult to see how the EU's objectives of peace and stability in the Western Balkans are achievable without a peaceful, stable Serbia. By not responding to the arrest and extradition of Karadzic, the EU allows Serb ultranationalists to fan flames of perceived victimhood and injustice, claiming that the EU is anti-Serb and that nothing Serbia ever does will satisfy it.

The Western Balkans is at yet another crossroads. The EU needs make a tangible response to Karadzic's appearance in front of the ICTY.

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