“The European Commission believes that any glorification of war criminals runs counter to the most basic European values, and that there is no place for it, either in the European Union or in countries that are candidates for EU membership. If Ratko Mladic is buried in Serbia, it is up to the Serbian authorities to clarify any role they might play in organizing or holding the funeral of Ratko Mladic.”
Sandro Gozi, secretary general of the European Democratic Party and a member of the European Parliament, also responded, telling N1 that state honors would represent “a line that no country aspiring to EU membership should ever cross.” The European Movement in Serbia called on the authorities to abandon what the organization described as the institutional glorification of a man convicted of genocide.
Does a Dignified Funeral Include Military Honors?
That question sits at the center of the dispute, since the legal argument against the honors rests directly on Mladic’s status as a convicted person. Jovana Kolaric of the Humanitarian Law Center argues that Vujic’s announcement, if carried out, would conflict with the law currently in force.
“Paying honors in that way would actually amount to breaking the law, since the Law on the Army in force stipulates that a person sentenced to more than a year in prison loses their rank and every honor that comes with it.”
The Regional Academy for Democracy Development described the announcement as proof of the authorities’ relationship to the country’s wartime past, saying “the regime has never stopped supporting an ideology of war and death.” Women in Black said in their statement that the honors would amount to “the renewed killing of thousands of innocent victims and a trampling of the dignity of their families.”
Opposition: Two Reactions, One Message
Part of the opposition spoke out the same day. Radomir Lazovic of the Green-Left Front said the state should not glorify a war criminal in any way.
“I think it is completely wrong for the state to glorify a war criminal in any way, and I think it would be good for us to distance ourselves from that and simply say this was not done in our name.”
Srdjan Milivojevic of the Democratic Party said Mladic’s death does not change the facts established before the international war crimes tribunal, adding that “people responsible for war crimes cannot hide behind their own nation.”
Srpske vesti has previously reported on Mladic’s death in The Hague, on the condolences from New Serbian Democracy leader Andrija Mandic, on the reaction from Montenegrin President Jakov Milatovic, and on the criminal complaint the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed against Milorad Dodik and Stasa Kosarac over the glorification of Mladic. Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, was sentenced in a final verdict in The Hague to life in prison for genocide in Srebrenica and crimes against humanity. He died at the age of 84.
Until a final decision is made on the location and form of the funeral, the family’s position must be awaited, according to Vujic. Whether that decision will include the military honors the minister announced, or whether, as the president indicated, the funeral will stay within the bounds of “dignified and decent,” remains an open question the government has yet to answer.