THE INFLUENCE OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF WAR CRIMES ON THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA

Abstract

The aim of the article is to study the impact of war crimes committed in the 1990s and early 2000s on the territory of the republics of former Yugoslavia on the European integration processes and aspirations of these states. Factors that directly influence the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and North Macedonia are analyzed. It was noted that Slovenia did not have similar problems, so its European integration was not related to solving the problem of war crimes. The author also emphasizes that this issue was unimportant in North Macedonia. Therefore, it had no impact on European integration. The scientific novelty of this investigation consists of an attempt to comprehensively highlight the interdependence of the consequences of war crimes and the aspirations of the post-Yugoslav countries to become members of the European Union. The article states that this topic requires a separate historiographical study since no works in Ukrainian and foreign science would reveal various aspects of the topic. The conclusions emphasize that for Croatia, the problem of settling war crimes and their consequences was one of the critical problems for joining the EU. European integration began to progress only after the state's political leadership changed and started to develop relevant legislation and actively cooperate with the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The author emphasizes that the problem of war crimes is quite acute for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Every year, the European Commission underlines that the country's leadership must change its approach to solving such problems. However, the dynamics of conviction of war criminals, as well as the investigation of human rights violations, remain low. It does not directly impact the European integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina since the country received candidate status only in 2022. As the author notes, Serbia and Montenegro are characterized by ignoring the problem of war crimes, their consequences, and the punishment of the guilty. The political leadership of both countries is taking purely demonstrative steps that would meet the requirements of the European Commission.