Kosovo’s chief negotiator with the European Union, Jeton Zulfaj, has condemned the Serbian authorities’ decision to honor the remains of former Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladić, who was convicted of genocide and other war crimes committed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Speaking at a meeting of European affairs ministers on EU enlargement with candidate and potential candidate countries in Dublin, Ireland, Zulfaj said Serbia’s treatment of Mladić should not pass without a response from the European Union.
Zulfaj pointed out that Serbia’s minister for European integration was present at the meeting while criticizing the Serbian government’s decision to receive Mladić’s remains with military honors and plans for a state-honored burial.
“Today, among us, is the Minister of Serbia for European Integration, whose government yesterday received with military honors the body of a person convicted of genocide, the gravest crime known to humanity, and intends to bury him with state honors this weekend,” Zulfaj said.
“This is wrong. And it will be a stain on our conscience if we say nothing,” he added.
Mladić was serving a life sentence for genocide and other serious crimes committed during the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the genocide in Srebrenica.
He died at the UN detention facility in Scheveningen, The Hague.
Zulfaj’s remarks come amid growing criticism of Serbia over the decision to provide official and military honors to Mladić, whose conviction by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was upheld in 2021.
The controversy has also renewed scrutiny of Serbia’s commitment to European Union values and the rule of law as Belgrade continues its EU accession process.
