Millions for Mladic and No Money: Real Patriotism rather than Hypothetical Money?

As if to explain the recent numbers of declining support for EU integration, a poll published today suggests that  some 65% of Serbs would not pass on information leading to the arrest of Ratko Mladic. It seems to give an obvious answer to the reduced EU support: Why support extradition of Mladic for EU integration if you are not willing to cash in millions for giving him away? Surely the millions are better than the lofty goal of EU integration with its less concrete benefits (ask Bulgarians and Romanians or anybody else). The only reason for being for EU integration rather than millions in cash is that the former would indicate a joint support for fulfilling the necessary conditions, while the latter is an individual choice which could (hypothetically or not) lead to being ostricized.

However, there is quiet different implication these numbers hold. Both the questions over EU conditions and over whether to give up Mladic give the choice between something concrete and something hypothetical.  Saying that you don’t give up Mladic is a concrete act which is promised the ‘reward’ of recognition as a patriot, it is easy to reject a hypothetical reward. Similar with the EU, it is easy to see the conditions are objectionable if the reward is untagible.

Given the choice between two real options, the number are likely to be different.