Croatia: Gotovina's Capture
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Washington, DC
December 8, 2005
The United States welcomes the news that Ante Gotovina was arrested in the Canary Islands. We congratulate Croatian and
Spanish authorities for their efforts that led to his arrest.
With the arrest of Mr. Gotovina, Croatia has now taken a major step forward toward addressing the injustices of its
recent past. With the success of its considerable efforts to locate and bring Gotovina to justice, Croatia significantly
strengthens its candidacy for its eventual full Euro-Atlantic integration.
The United States welcomes his prompt extradition to The Hague where he can stand trial for the crimes for which he has
been indicted. We congratulate the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for their steadfast
commitment in seeing Gotovina and other war criminals brought to justice.
Gotovina's arrest underscores the need to resolve completely the remaining war crimes cases.
The United States calls on the Government of Serbia-Montenegro and the Bosnian Serb authorities to fulfill their
international obligations to the Hague Tribunal without any further delay, in particular through the apprehension and
transfer to The Hague of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, for whom the Tribunal's doors will always remain open.
2005/1149
Released on December 8, 2005
ENDS