IT IS good news that Ratko Mladic has finally been apprehended and will be made to pay for his terrible crimes.

However, it is clear that he has had wide support over the past 16 years in Serbia and is even now treated as a hero by many.

There are also many others who happily carried out the genocide policy under Mladic’s orders. Is this the time to consider welcoming these people into the waiting room for European Union membership?

What kind of moral authority will the EU be able to muster then?

Clive Woolley, Mill Hill Drive, Huntington, York.

• RATKO Mladic, the Bosnia Serb ex-army chief wanted for war crimes and in ‘hiding’ for 16 years, has been arrested and is hopefully to be extradited to The Hague for trial.

This army chief is said to have been responsible for the ethnic cleansing massacres including Srebrenica, where a small group of Dutch UN troops were ignored while this man supervised the separation of 8,000 men and boys from their families, then slaughtered them in a forest; also, thousands of innocent civilians were killed when his army bombarded the city of Sarajevo under siege.

To this day there are still Serbs who still treat him as their hero.

It is hardly believable that he could not be ‘found’ anytime, it is quite possible that his supporters sustained and kept him hidden.

It is no coincidence that the first overtures by Serbia for joining the European Union were made in March and one of the many obstacles to overcome was the Dutch objections for reasons described above.

J Beisly, Osprey Close, York.

• GENERAL Mladic was arrested after 16 years on the run. It has been stated that he was informed on. Speculation mounted Mr Mladic would soon be arrested when Radovan Karadzic was arrested in July, 2008. It is very strange that this capture should occur just when Serbia wants to join the European Community. The application goes in shortly, so it looks like good timing to see Mladic captured.

Tom Mitchell, Mendip Close, Huntington, York.