Between Justice and Stability-The Politics of War Crimes Prosecutions in Post-Milošević´ Serbia by Mladen Ostojić (Ashgate 2014)

Lack of cooperation and compliance with the ICTY was one of the biggest obstacles to Serbia’s integration into Euro-Atlantic political structures following the overthrow of Miloševic'.

By scrutinising the attitudes of the Serbian authorities towards the ICTY and the prosecution of war crimes, Ostojic´ explores the complex processes set in motion by the international community’s policies of conditionality and by the prosecution of the former Serbian leadership in The Hague. Drawing on a rich collection of empirical data, he demonstrates how the success of international judicial intervention in Serbia was premised upon democratic consolidation and how transitional justice policies only took root insofar as they did not undermine the stability and legitimacy of political
institutions on the ground.

Discussants : Dr Eric Gordy (UCL - SSEES), Dr Jasna Dragovic-Soso (Goldsmiths), Dr Adam Fagan (Queen Mary)

Moderator: Dr Bojan Aleksov, Coordinator of the Centre of South-East European Studies