Hague Tribunal should be abolished - FM

Hague Tribunal should be abolished - FM

BELGRADE -- Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić says Serbia bears no responsibility for the statements made by the leader of the Radicals (SRS) and Hague indictee Vojislav Šešelj.

He added that the party has no influence on the political scene in Serbia and that it was the Hague Tribunal (ICTY) that was to blame for the current situation.

"Is he (Šešelj) a state official? Are there those in Croatia who talk about the Ustasha? We (Croatia and Serbia) should relax our relations and not complicate them," Dačić said, commenting on an initiative of Croatian representatives in the European Parliament to adopt a resolution that would condemn Šešelj's statements.

Dačić also said said that the Hague Tribunal was "incapable" of completing Šešelj's trial and a better use for resolutions would be to abolish this court, "that has existed for too long."

"The Hague Tribunal allowed for this situation. Serbia does not bear a millimeter of responsibility in that. They can pass resolutions, but those cannot relate to Serbia. Serbia has clearly declared itself, and anyway, Šešelj has been mostly attacking the Serbian authorities," Dačić said of the SRS leader's statements since his release last week.

Commenting on Šešelj's talk about "a Greater Serbia," Dačić said, "Who is Vojislav Šešelj in Serbia today?"

Dačić then stressed that the SRS is not represented in parliament and "has no influence" on the political scene.