The outgoing Yugoslav war crimes prosecutor on Monday called on the EU to deny membership to Serbia unless authorities hand over two of the most-wanted war crimes suspects from the Balkan wars.
That two key fugitives, Bosnian Serb wartime political leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, General Ratko Mladic "are still at large undermines the very idea of international justice," prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said in her final report to the UN Security Council.
Del Ponte, who has been the UN prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia since 1999, said some war crimes may go unpunished unless the UN, particularly Europeans, keeps up pressure on Serbia to hand over fugitives charged in the killing of thousands of Muslims.
The EU should "maintain their principled position by insisting on Serbia's full cooperation with the international tribunal as a condition in the EU" process of granting membership, which requires all 27 nations to sign on, she said of The Hague-based tribunal.
"It is now in the hands of the Security Council if this tribunal will be a success in applying international justice or not," she said.
Serbian officials have pledged to intensify the search for the remaining suspects sought by the tribunal.
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