MEMBERS OF Ireland’s 1,600-strong Bosnian community gathered outside the Dáil yesterday to urge the Government not to ratify an agreement that would pave the way for Serbia’s membership of the EU.

The protest over the EU’s Stabilisation and Association Agreement with Serbia coincided with a visit by Serbian ambassador Dejan Popovic, who addressed the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee during a closed session yesterday.

The Bosnians are calling on the Government not to ratify the agreement until Serbia arrests Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and former Croatian Serb leader, Goran Hadzic, who is also wanted in connection with war crimes.

“Serbia has shown no respect for the EU by not giving up these war criminals,” said Elvedina Dizdarevic, who lost three members of her family in the war. “This agreement is unfair in these circumstances. We want justice and we will continue to fight for it.”

All 27 EU member states must ratify the agreement for it to enter into force. Campaigners in Ireland are calling for the Government to join the Netherlands in insisting that Mladic and Hadzic be handed over before the agreement is ratified.