Meron submitted a report on the tribunal's work and on the cooperation of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro with the tribunal.
Speaking of Croatia, Meron said that although cooperation on the part of the authorities had improved considerably, the tribunal expected them to make every effort until Gotovina was in The Hague.
Meron called on all United Nations member-countries to help the work of the Hague tribunal, underlining that 21 accused were still at large and had to be arrested, including Gotovina and Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. He added the tribunal's historic mission would not be realised until all high-profile accused were brought to justice.
Speaking of the training of court officials in former Yugoslav countries for taking over some cases referring to low- and medium-ranked indictees, as envisaged by the Hague tribunal's exit strategy by 2010, Meron said major headway had been made over the past year.
Speaking of the tribunal's efforts to help preparations for the hand-over of cases to national courts, he commended Croatia in particular, saying that during his visit earlier this month he was impressed by the increasing professionalism at the Zagreb County Court and the Supreme Court.
As for the special war crimes tribunal in Sarajevo, Meron said Bosnian authorities expected it to be ready for work by January, and that the Hague tribunal was willing to start referring cases as soon as possible.
Meron said the cooperation of Bosnia's Croat-Muslim entity with the Hague tribunal was satisfactory, while cooperation with the Bosnian Serb entity was insufficient.
As for Serbia and Montenegro, he said that apart from the case of Ljubisa Beara, who is accused of war crimes in Srebrenica, the state union had virtually not cooperated with the tribunal at all.
In his address to the General Assembly, Croatian Ambassador to the U.N. Vladimir Drobnjak said he was pleased that in his report Meron had noted the efforts Croatia was making in its cooperation with the Hague tribunal.
Drobnjak said Croatia would continue to meet its commitments to the tribunal and take every step to prosecute war criminals on its territory. He added Croatian judges and prosecutors were ready to take over cases from the Hague tribunal.
In the closing part of his report, Meron voiced concern about the financial problems the Hague tribunal encountered in its work, which he said undermined the exit strategy, as well as about the fact that many high-profile indictees were still at large.
Speaking of behalf of the European Union, Deputy Dutch Ambassador to the U.N. Arjan Hamburger said the Union fully supported the tribunal's work and that every effort should be made to ensure that the exit strategy deadlines were met.
He called on the former Yugoslav countries to cooperate with the tribunal, reiterating the EU's position that it was necessary to step up efforts to arrest and extradite Karadzic, Mladic, and Gotovina.