EU urges Serbia to turn in Mladic

AS THE Serbian nation went on trial for genocide in The Hague yesterday, the EU gave the country until the end of March to turn over Ratko Mladic to the war crimes tribunal in the Dutch capital.

Chief prosecutor Carlo Del Ponte called on the EU to suspend Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) talks with Serbia. The Agreement is a first step towards EU membership.

Foreign ministers in Brussels were reluctant to isolate Serbia, the Germans arguing the EU could not afford to "lose the country."