Head of Russian Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachov Thursday expressed hope that the arrest of General Ratko Mladic will be a serious factor in accelerating Serbia's European integration.

The EU now has to prove that Mladic was not just an excuse to slow down Serbia's path towards the EU, he said. According to Kosachov, the arrest of Mladic will undeniably be a factor which will accelerate the rapprochement of Serbia and the EU, but a different course of events cannot be ruled out.

Serbia's government has intensified its efforts to join the EU, but some disappointments may lie in store in the process, Kosachov said. So far, the fact that Mladic was at large and able to be hiding in Serbia was one of the main objections to the Serbian authorities from Brussels, he said.

The arrest of Mladic has now created a very interesting situation, because the main obstacle has been removed, Kosachov said. He believes that it is possible that for the EU, the Mladic case was a kind of excuse and reason not to accelerate the entry of Serbia into the EU.

He also expressed reservations concerning the capability of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to secure a fair trial for Mladic. Up to 80 percent of ICTY sentences were given to Serbs, he said.

At the same time, other indictees were acquitted, and an astonishing passive attitude was shown regarding human organ trafficking in Kosovo, he said. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia Mikhail Margelov said it is hard to believe it was impossible to find Mladic for so long.

He was found 80 km from Belgrade living peacefully for years without any camouflage, he said. It seems that Serbia's authorities have waited for the right moment to show their commitment to cooperation with ICTY, Margelov said.