British MP and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Alicia Kearns, has sharply condemned Serbia’s reported intention to give state and military honors to Ratko Mladić, the Bosnian Serb commander convicted of genocide and other grave international crimes.
Kearns accused President Aleksandar Vučić and the Serbian government of denying the Srebrenica genocide while preparing to honor the man who was convicted for his role in it.
“Vučić and the Government of Serbia deny the genocide in Srebrenica. Now they will bury the man who gave the orders, Ratko Mladić, with the highest honors. That’s recognition,” Kearns wrote on X.
Her message goes beyond Mladić himself, warning that his death should not be mistaken for the disappearance of the ideology and narratives that surrounded his crimes.
“Mladić is dead, but millions of Bosniaks are alive. Every life lived is a victory over him and his genocidal ambitions.”
Kearns added a stark warning:
“Don’t think those ambitions died with him. They are kept alive by those who deny the genocide.”
Her comments come amid renewed controversy over Mladić’s legacy in Serbia. Rather than being remembered solely as a convicted war criminal, he continues to be glorified by sections of Serbian nationalist society, while Serbian officials have discussed the possibility of state and military honors.
The contrast is stark: a man convicted by an international tribunal for genocide is being mourned and potentially honored, while the victims of the genocide are still fighting against denial and glorification of the man responsible for it.
Mladić’s death may have ended his life, but it cannot rewrite the verdict delivered in The Hague — nor erase the names of the thousands murdered at Srebrenica.
The uniform is gone. The conviction remains. The victims remain. And so does the historical record.
