Kuçi warns: Serbia and Russia’s glorification of Ratko Mlladiq risks fueling new criminals

Security expert Gurakuç Kuçi has expressed concern that the public rehabilitation of individuals convicted of war crimes could affect not only how the past is addressed, but also the security of the future.

As an example, Kuçi cited Ratko Mlladiq, the former commander of the Army of the Republika Srpska, who died yesterday. According to him, the way Serbia and Russia have glorified Mlladiq’s image conveys to younger generations the idea that crimes can be justified when committed in the name of the nation.

He believes that a form of patriotism has taken hold in Russia and Serbia in which violence against others is minimized or justified when it is presented as the defense of national interests.

“The more a perpetrator of crimes is portrayed as a ‘defender of the national interest,’ the more easily his crime is transformed into a ‘patriotic sacrifice,’” Kuçi wrote on Facebook.

Kuçi stressed that the support and rehabilitation of individuals convicted of crimes, through institutions, politicians and the media, sends a dangerous signal: crime can be relativized, justified and even rewarded when it is claimed to have been committed for the nation.

“The logic that produced these people is also rehabilitated. Violence is no longer seen as a path toward accountability, but as a possible route to the status of a patriot,” he emphasized.

The expert also warned of the consequences these narratives could have for younger generations. According to him, ethnocentric and hostile attitudes toward Albanians, Bosniaks, Croats and other communities continue to spread in Serbia and the Republika Srpska.