What Karadzic’s arrest means for Serbia

The arrest of Radovan Karadzic will help realize the dream of long-term stability in the former Yugoslavia, said Tony Barber in a Financial Times blog. Ending the murderous Bosnian Serb leader’s years on the run will “accelerate Serbia’s path” to joining the European Union. And that will deal a body blow to “the militant nationalists who have poisoned Serbian public life for the past 20 years.”

Putting Karadzic behind bars advances the cause of justice all over the world, said David Rohde in The New York Times. He faces genocide charges for the 1995 massacres in Srebrenica, and every day he spent in freedom “made a mockery" of war crime tribunals, and his arrest should help restore their credibility.

Western policy makers have reason to celebrate, said Mark Tran in the London Guardian, but the prosecution is only beginning. Former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic managed to drag out his trial for years, and Karadzic will surely come up with ways to “spin things out as long as possible.”

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The tribunal’s verdict won’t satisfy everybody, said a BBC News analysis. “For some Serbs, Karadzic remains a hero who stood up to ancient enemies and tried to create a separate Serb homeland.”