DutchNews.nl - Dutch agree to sign EU-Serbia treaty

The Netherlands on Tuesday agreed to sign a treaty paving the way for Serbia to join the EU on the condition it does not come into effect until Belgrade cooperates fully with the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen has insisted that Serbia should not benefit from the advantages of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement until ‘Mladic is on the plane to The Hague’.

The minister was referring to Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb leader held responsible for the massacre of 7,000 men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. The enclave was under Dutch protection at the time.

The Netherlands and Belgium held up the signing of the treaty, seen as a first step to full EU membership, because Serbia is dragging its feet on extraditing suspected war criminals.

In a compromise presented at the weekend, Holland and Belgium said they would sign the treaty only if it did not come into effect until Serbia cooperates with the UN tribunal.

Initially Slovenia, which is currently EU president, was not in favour of the compromise, saying it was ‘complicated’.

Verhagen and his Belgian colleague were under considerable pressure to sign the treaty because many EU states see it as a show of support for pro-EU moderates in Serbia’s May 11 elections.

I'd love to know why certain Dutch officials seem to be engendering a definite anti-Serb psychosis in their own population and even abroad.
I feel that there is a sinister hidden agenda here but also I believe that these Dutch politicians are appearing ever more ludicrous in their stance towards Serbia.
It all could easily backfire on the Dutch government when certain facts involving Dutch officials in the Balkans are exposed.

Micheal Breathnach
Ireland

By Micheal Breathnach | December 9, 2008 2:23 AM

The Lisbon Treaty is a rat trap that puts people in cages.

It is vital to delay the possible ratification.

We absolutely need time to inform our citizens about the perversity of a system that abandons the democratic process and derived a forced march to the satisfaction of powerful special interests to the detriment of general interest.

We need time to warn people about the realities of
- the Bilderberg meetings
- the Trilateral Commission
- the Council of Foreign Relations
- etc. ...

All these circles undemocratic working under cover for decades and grow to a new world order where people no longer have their say.

We need time to allow people to become aware of the real objectives of the New World Order.

The treaty must be thoroughly amended to give latitude to the democratic expression:

> Freedom of expression and opposition should be more explicitly encouraged.

> The fight against the illegal actions of lobbying - from financial groups, ideological and industrial - must be clearly

> The fight against the lies and corruption of the powerful must be included as a right of every citizen and sanctions of dismissal and disqualification should be the rule.

> Transparency of debates and votes in Parliament must be total (video recording sessions available to every citizen, minutes of meetings available to all citizens)

The Lisbon Treaty is not in this sense and for this reason it should not be ratified.

FreeDem ocraty

By FreeDem | October 9, 2009 10:51 PM