European Commission and European Council presidents voice dismay over convicted war criminal’s glorification at his funeral, as US lawmakers and Turkish officials also said scenes undermined regional peace and reconciliation.
Senior European Union figures have condemned the military honours and glorification of the convicted Bosnian Serb war criminal Ratko Mladic at his funeral in Belgrade, warning that the scenes undermined Serbia’s European aspirations.
In a joint statement European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa described images from Monday’s funeral as “shocking”, stressing that Mladic died while serving a life sentence for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The elements of official support and the presence
“The elements of official support and the presence of some senior Serbian officials at the funeral are deeply regrettable,” Von der Leyen and Costa wrote on X on Tuesday. “They demonstrate a failure to confront a dark chapter in Europe’s recent history and contradict the values underpinning Serbia’s path towards the European Union.”
Several Serbian ministers, including Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic and Justice Minister Nenad Vujic, attended the funeral of Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, who was buried with military honours in Belgrade.
Officials from Bosnia’s Serb-dominated Republika Srpska entity also attended, as well as an estimated 16,000 mourners, according to the Archive of Public Gatherings, which gauges attendance sizes at large gatherings.
Until his death on August 27
Until his death on August 27 at the UN Detention Unit in the Netherlands, Mladic was serving a life sentence after being convicted of genocide and other wartime crimes.
The EU criticism comes at a politically sensitive moment in Serbia, a candidate for membership of the bloc, where elections are approaching and relations between Brussels and Belgrade have already faced strains over democratic standards.
A group of 118 Serbian professors and researchers wrote on Tuesday in a letter to Von der Leyen ahead of her possible visit to Serbia in October, warning that a meeting with President Aleksandar Vucic during an election campaign could be portrayed by pro-government media as European support for the incumbent authorities.
We are not asking you to support
“We are not asking you to support the student movement, the opposition, or any electoral list. We are asking you to support no one,” the academics said, urging Von der Leyen to consider postponing the visit until after the elections if it could not be protected from political manipulation.
Condemnation also came from US politicians. House of Representatives members Greg Murphy and Marc Veasey said on Monday that Mladic’s funeral was “not an occasion for his glorification”, warning that genocide denial and the glorification of convicted war criminals deepen ethnic divisions and undermine Bosnia and Herzegovina’s stability.
The two US politicians also called for targeted sanctions against individuals who threaten Bosnia’s peace and stability or undermine the 1995 Dayton peace deal framework.
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli meanwhile said
Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli meanwhile said it was “unacceptable” for the funeral to be exploited in a way that amounted to denying grave crimes and human suffering.
Ankara said rejecting international court judgments or portraying convicted perpetrators as heroes deepens the suffering of victims and their relatives and damages peace and reconciliation in the Balkans.
Turkey said the region needed to learn lessons from the past and build a “peaceful, prosperous and shared future”, while commemorating the victims of the Srebrenica genocide and all innocent people killed during the Bosnian war.
Condemnation has continued to come from neighbouring states
Condemnation has continued to come from neighbouring states as well, with Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing concern for Mladic’s victims.
“It is our obligation to preserve the dignity and memory of the victims, to preserve the truth about crimes and individual responsibility for them, and to resolutely oppose any attempt to deny genocide, war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the Montenegrin ministry said in a written statement on Tuesday.
On Monday, Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Foreign Minister Elmedin Konakovic warned that the Serbian leadership is risking “complete isolation in the region”, while Croatia’s Foreign Minister Gordan Grlic Radman said that “glorifying this war criminal is truly incompatible with European values”.
Source: balkaninsight.com
