German MEP Michael Roth has reacted sharply to the state honors that Serbia plans to give to Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Army of Republika Srpska, convicted of war crimes and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Roth said he never thought he would see a convicted war crimes suspect, whom he held responsible for the Srebrenica genocide, receive state honors in Belgrade.
According to him, such an action shows how far Serbia is from reconciliation, which, as he said, the Western Balkans urgently need.
“Thank you to all Serbs who publicly oppose this disgrace,” Roth wrote, expressing gratitude for Serbian citizens who have come out against the honoring of Mladic.
Meanwhile, European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, canceled a planned visit to Serbia, criticizing the glorification of a person convicted of war crimes.
Ratko Mladic was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment by the UN judicial mechanism for crimes including genocide in Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed in July 1995.
The criminal died on August 27 in The Hague, at the age of 84, while serving a life sentence. /Telegraph/