EU's Varhelyi welcomes adoption of revised war crime strategy in Bosnia

“Welcome that Bosnia and Herzegovina has finally adopted the new war crimes strategy. 25 years after the end of the conflict, it is high time to fight impunity for war criminals. All perpetrators must serve for their crimes, all victims and their families deserve justice,” the commissioner tweeted on Friday morning.

 Bosnia's Council of Minister unanimously adopted the revised strategy in an extraordinary session held Thursday.

The War Crimes Processing Strategy was initially adopted in 2008, and it stipulated that the most complex war crime cases are processed at the state level within the seven-year period while the less complex crimes would be transferred to the lower, entity-level courts and finalised by 2023.

The seven-year deadline expired in 2015 and the most complex war crimes cases were not completed, which is why a revised strategy was prepared in order to disburden the state court.