Everybody in Western Balkans should understand that there is a reason why certain conditions have been attached to the perspective of the regional countries to become members of the EU. The reason being that both governments and the public in Western Balkans must understand that there is no alternative to full co-operation with the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Special Co-ordinator of the Stability Pact Erhard Busek said today (31 January).

“You simply cannot negotiate justice,” Busek said today while joining both Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and EU Foreign Ministers who called upon the regional governments to fully co-operate with ICTY.

Busek, who travels regularly in the region to meet with government, business and civil society representatives of South Eastern Europe, was reacting as an observer to a “worrying perception that governments and people in the region just simply get ICTY wrong”.

“There is no doubt that we need the International Criminal Court for former Yugoslavia. We need it to be a voice of justice but also for future reconciliation. At the same time we need to tell people in the Balkans that ICTY is there not to serve political agendas but to trial those who have brought ethnic cleansing and killing into the region,” Busek said while urging the governments of Western Balkans, ICTY and the international community to better explain to the public what ICTY is trying to achieve.

Full co-operation with ICTY will be a stepping stone for the younger generations to leave the past behind and move ahead towards European integration, Busek believes.