State Secretary with the Justice Ministry Slobodan Homen stated that he expects a new extradition treaty with the U.S. will be signed within the next few months, and added that the first person to be extradited to Serbia according to this document could be the Nazi war criminal Peter Egner.

In a statement Homen reminded that the treaty on extradition signed by the U.S. and the Kingdom of Serbia in 1901 is still in force and that the new document will be a continuation of cooperation between the two countries' judicial bodies.

According to Homen, the extradition treaty is aimed at fighting organized crime and narco cartels, since Serbian mafia has become a true international criminal group whose members are citizens of a number of countries. Homen recalled that Egner is charged with committing genocide and war crimes against civilians in Belgrade while a member of the Gestapo during WWII, and with being involved in the murder of several thousand Serbs, Jews and Roma.

"The main obstacle to his extradition was the fact that he is a U.S. citizen, but the new treaty will enable his prosecution before Serbian courts," Homen said.

He pointed out that the U.S. willingness to extradite its citizens to Serbia shows that the two countries have "exceptionally good relations" in the fight against organized crime, and that the U.S has "great confidence in the Serbian judicial system."

Emphasizing that it is not enough to arrest criminals, and that they need to be prosecuted and sentenced as well, Homen noted that presently, the U.S. does not require extradition of any Serbian citizen.