§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
Given the European Council statement of 12 December 2003 confirming the European Union's readiness for a European security and defence policy (ESDP) mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina, what role that mission will play in apprehending alleged war criminals. [HL1635]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanThe international community is committed to supporting the efforts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in its efforts to bring to justice all indicted war criminals. We hope there will be significant progress in the coming months. We would fully expect the proposed EU-led force to play its role in this effort, as will NATO, if there are any indicted war criminals who have not been detained by the time the proposed EU-led force deploys.