For a successful reconciliation process, victims deserve the utmost respect, while perpetrators deserve due judicial process, Bosnia's international administrator Valentin Inzko said on Monday, adding that this is especially important for the countries like Bosnia that aims to leave the consequences of the war behind.

Inzko spoke on the anniversary marking the day when West Germany Chancellor Willy Brandt kneeled before the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes in Warsaw and asked for forgiveness for the crimes of the Nazi era.

“The historic gesture of Chancellor Brandt reminds us of the importance of acknowledging the crimes and respecting all victims if a society is to heal and move forward. For a successful reconciliation process, victims deserve the utmost respect, while perpetrators deserve due judicial process,” said Inzko, the Austrian diplomat appointed as the High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to oversee the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992-95 war.

“Leaders who aspire to be recognized as respecting and embracing European values must put truth, justice and reconciliation first, and under no circumstances can afford to find themselves on the wrong side of history by negating crimes or glorifying war criminals. This is especially important for a country like Bosnia and Herzegovina that aims to leave the consequences of a terrible war behind and turn towards a European future,” he stressed.

Highlighting the example of Chancellor Brandt, Inzko said that his step had opened “a new chapter of reconciliation between the peoples of Germany and Poland” and that “at the same time, he opened a new chapter of Germany’s future.”

“For this purpose, I would like to recall the recent message from German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, who, honouring the legacy of Willy Brandt, said that if a country wants to join the EU, there is no place for the denial of war crimes or the glorification of war criminals,” he underlined.