The results of an opinion poll carried out early in May showed that the majority of the citizens of Serbia that is 51 percent would not extradite Ratko Mladic to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and only seven percent would tip him off and take EUR 10 million prize, announced President of the National Council for Cooperation with the ICTY and Serbian Minister of Labor and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic.

Ljajic stated for the Sunday edition of the Belgrade-based daily Press that according to the poll, only a third of the citizens (34 percent) supports the arrest of Mladic, 40 percent believe that the indictee is a hero, 53 percent view the ICTY as biased, while four fifths i.e. 78 percent of the subjects would not tip him off and take the prize.

Only 29 percent of the subjects believe that the authorities in Serbia will manage to locate the most wanted ICTY fugitive, while almost a half of them - 49 percent believe that this is not possible, Ljajic said and underlined that such data are indicative of the citizens' reaction to difficult economic and social situation.

"The atmosphere is such that the citizens are searching for someone to be held guilty for their dissatisfaction. They believe that the main culprits are the authorities and the pressures coming from the international community, and therefore they punish them with such a negative stand," Ljajic said.

According to him, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is not satisfied with the fact that Mladic and Goran Hadzic are still at large.

"The search is very intensive and professional, however we have reached the phase in which the only thing that matters are the final results, which we do not have, rather than the country's efforts to arrest them. This will be the key point of Brammertz's report to the UN Security Council, while all other elements of Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY will fade into the background," the minister stated.

When asked whether the chief prosecutor can prevent Serbia from getting the EU candidate status by the end of the year, Ljajic responded that he can hinder the process since certain countries will pay special attention to his report.

We believe that Serbia stands good chances of getting the EU candidate status by the end of the year, while in case of a negative report the chances for setting the beginning of talks with the EU will be considerably reduced, Ljajic noted.