Portugal “deeply concerned” with glorification of Ratko Mladic

“The Portuguese Government sees with deep concern the glorification demonstrations of Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity” committed during the Bosnian War (1992-1995), declared the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE), in a statement released on social network X.

The Portuguese executive refers to the signs of official support of the Serbian authorities for a convicted war criminal, whose urn was welcomed in Serbia as a national hero.

“The glorification of a war criminal, as well as the denial of crimes for which he was convicted, is incompatible with the memory of the victims and the duty to preserve the historical truth about the crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia”, stressed the MNE in the statement.

“Portugal reaffirms its solidarity with all victims and families affected by these crimes and underlines the importance of facing this past with truth, memory and respect for the fundamental principles of the European order”, the Portuguese MNE also called.

Serbia, which since March 2012 has been a candidate for membership of the European Union (EU), used on 3 September a state plane to transport the body of Mladic, who died on 27 August at the age of 84, from the Netherlands, while serving a life sentence at a UN detention centre in The Hague.

On arrival at Belgrade Airport, the urn with its remains was received with military honors: covered with a Serbian flag, it was transported by six military personnel from a government plane to a car, before proceeding in court, under police escort, to a military hospital in Belgrade, after being accompanied during the flight not only by the son, Darko Mladic, but by the Serbian Minister of Justice, Nenad Vujic.

During the journey from the airport to the capital, there were groups of people in the passages over the highway holding tracks where phrases like “The heroes never die”, “Welcome home, General” and “Thank you, General”.

On Monday, the day of the exchequers of the former Bosnian Serbian general, thousands of people concentrated in Belgrade to pay their last respects to him, and the religious ceremony, officiated by the head of the Orthodox Church, took shape of a state funeral, with the presence of senior Serbian leaders, although it was officially announced that everything was organized by the son, Darko.

Many people wore T-shirts glorifying Mladic, nicknamed “The Butcher of the Balkans” by international media, and many kissed his closed coffin at a wake that lasted several hours before the religious ceremony.

Despite his condemnation, many Serbian nationalists continue to see Ratko Mladic as a hero and protector, particularly in the Serbian Republic (Srpska), where the announcement of death led to demonstrations in his memory.

The former military, who led the Serbian forces and was captured in 2011 in Serbia, after 16 years in flight, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Bosnian War, which made nearly 100,000 deaths, a verdict confirmed in appeal in 2021.

Among his crimes are the massacre of about 8,000 Bosnian men and boys, committed in July 1995 in the Srebrenica region (east). The Srebrenica massacre was the first genocide recognized in Europe after World War II.