No Balkan reconciliation

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal has done no favours to the countries of the former Yugoslavia. A quarter-century on, justice has eluded many of the victims of this divisive war.

After 25 years, the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is about to close its doors. While awaiting the final verdict on Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb general accused of masterminding the Srebrenica genocide, reconciliation between the two countries that have replaced the former Yugoslavia still seems a long way off. But why is the blame for this failure to heal historical wounds so often pinned on the special court? “Some will say that this is a verdict against the Serbian people. My office rejects this interpretation outright. The blame is Mladic’s and his alone”, claimed Serge Brammerts, the head prosecutor of the ICTY after the first verdict was handed down in November 2017, one that sentenced the “Butcher of Bosnia” to life in prison.

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