Sir, - Deaglan de Breadun states (April 14th) that "the cultural differences between Belgrade and, say, Vienna are minimal and Serbia should assimilate easily into Brussels' scheme of things". Can he be serious?
Unlike Dr Adenauer's record in post-war Germany in respect of the previous Nazi regime, Vojislav Kostunica, the new Yugoslav president, supported the onslaught of the Milosevic regime against neighbouring peoples and continues to deny the right of the UN established International War Crimes Tribunal to try his country's indicted war criminals. In fact, according to a recent United States Institute of Peace report on Serbia, he continues to offer military and political aid in Bosnia Herzegovina to the party of the indicted war criminal, Radovan Karadzic.
Mr de Breadun quotes a senior official in the current Kostunica government expressing the hope that an association agreement could be signed between Serbia and the EU some time this year. While fully supporting the aspiration of Serbia for membership of the EU, this cannot be allowed until there is a just reckoning for all the genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by the Milosevic regime against neighbouring peoples.
Mr de Breadan also refers to a university student's belief that Milosevic's greatest crimes were against his own people. Tell that to the people of Srebrenica - the scene of the greatest massacre in post-war Europe. The people of many other towns in Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia also have many tragic reasons to dissent from that student's assessment.
As Ireland faces a decision in favour or against the Nice Treaty's proposal for the enlargement of the EU, it is imperative that our country's support and concern extends to those countries in the Balkans which were the principal victims of the Milosevic regime. Already a huge proportion of the Bosnian and Kosovar populations live in exile as refugees or as "guestworkers". As a result of the destruction of their countries, very many of these nationalities still resident at home now seek to emigrate in order to survive. - Yours, etc.,
Valerie Hughes, Cabra, Dublin 7.