SDSM accused Hristijan Mickoski of pursuing a policy similar to Vučić’s by protecting officials who glorified convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.

The ruling party said European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos canceled her planned visit to Serbia today because of the glorification of Mladić.

“The message from the European Union and Kos is more than clear. The glorification accompanying his death does not correspond to the values on which the path toward the EU is built. This path requires coming to terms with the past, genuine reconciliation and respect for the victims of war crimes,” Marta Kos wrote on X.

According to SDSM, today’s statement by the European Union confirms precisely the concerns the party had raised following developments in Macedonia.

“The glorification of a war criminal is incompatible with European values,” the party said in its response.

Nevertheless, after their positions and statements in support of the glorification of Mladić, Mickoski defended Ivan Stoilković and Dalibor Kitanović.

SDSM stressed that there were neither resignations nor dismissals nor any assumption of responsibility, saying that Mickoski consciously chose to support them.

“It is now even clearer where this policy of Mickoski is taking Macedonia, built according to Vučić’s recipe: deliberate isolation, moving away from the EU, an anti-European campaign and commitment to the Russian agenda,” SDSM’s statement concluded.

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The government has described Dalibor Kitanoviq’s position as personal and unacceptable.

According to the government, Ratko Mladić has been found definitively guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by a competent international court.

The government institution will ask Kitanoviq to withdraw his position. If he does not agree with government policies, he is expected to step down from the position he holds.

Here is the government’s full reaction:

“The government maintains a clear position, based on the legal facts established at the international level. Ratko Mladić was convicted in a final ruling of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by a competent international court.

Dalibor Kitanoviq’s position represents a personal view and is unacceptable to the government. Its positions are determined in accordance with the interests of the state and its citizens.

When a position is adopted by the government, it must be implemented by every individual who is part of it. Acting according to personal will is not accepted, and for this reason the government will ask Kitanoviq to withdraw his position. If he does not agree with the government’s policies, we expect him to step down from the position he holds.”

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The Democratic Union for Integration has reacted to what it describes as the glorification of war criminals Ratko Mladić and Draža Mihailović by VLEN’s political partners in the Government. According to DUI, VLEN cannot avoid responsibility merely through public statements, as it is part of the governing authorities and co-governs with the entities it accuses.

“VLEN’s partners in the Government, whom VLEN has defended and legitimized in every respect, are today glorifying Ratko Mladić and Draža Mihailović,” DUI said in its response.

DUI specifically mentioned the Minister of Local Self-Government, Ivan Stoilković, who, according to the party, is part of the political partnership accepted and defended by VLEN in order to preserve their coalition government.

“Ratko Mladić is not a figure for debate or historical interpretation. He is a war criminal sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, responsible, among other things, for the genocide in Srebrenica, where more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were killed,” DUI said.

The Albanian opposition party said that Stoilković’s positions and those of the entity he represents do not constitute an isolated case, but have been repeated before.

In this context, DUI recalled previous statements about Srebrenica and said that “this is precisely the political profile and approach to one of the most horrific genocides in post-World War II Europe that VLEN has as a partner in the Government.”

DUI’s response also criticized VLEN’s conduct following these developments. “And what does VLEN do? It behaves as if it were a nongovernmental organization or an opposition party: it waits for the public, the people and other parties to react, and then issues some formal response to wash its hands,” the statement said.

According to DUI, VLEN, as part of the governing coalition, cannot remain in the role of an observer.

“VLEN is not a spectator. VLEN is in the Government and shares responsibility for the partners it keeps in power and for everything it tolerates for the sake of its seats,” DUI said.

DUI linked this situation to the current authorities’ relations with political figures and structures from Serbia and Republika Srpska, claiming that the tolerance of these positions is part of a broader policy.

“They tolerated the arrival of Milorad Dodik and his anti-Western and pro-Russian lectures; meanwhile, VLEN has built economic and energy relations and partnerships with structures from Serbia and Republika Srpska, from Alta Banka to agreements in the energy sector and gasification projects,” the response said.

According to DUI, the glorification of war criminals by VLEN’s partners should be viewed as the result of a political climate characterized by silence and tolerance toward entities that are part of the governing authorities.

“Therefore, the glorification of war criminals by VLEN’s partners is not an isolated incident. It is part of a policy of silence, tolerance and submission to the partners in power,” DUI said.

The party also expressed concern about what it described as the penetration of the “Serbian World” into the country’s political and institutional structures, claiming that concerns over this issue have also been raised in European reports.

Finally, DUI called on VLEN not to hide behind reactions on social media. “VLEN can no longer hide behind a Facebook response. Silence in the face of the glorification of genocide is tolerance, while tolerance in government means shared responsibility,” the statement said.

DUI maintained that VLEN has decided to continue co-governing, regardless of the positions held by its political partners. “For the sake of a few seats, VLEN has chosen to co-govern, remain silent and tolerate,” DUI’s response concluded.

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VLEN has reacted sharply to every attempt to glorify Chetniks, singling out Ratko Mladić in particular, who was convicted of genocide and other serious crimes.

In a Facebook post, the party said the concern is even greater when such materials are published by the head of an institution whose mission is to protect the rights of Albanians and other communities.

According to VLEN, the case is not related to individual preferences or beliefs, but to the standards that a public official must uphold and the message that institutions convey to citizens. The statement calls for immediate accountability, while stressing that no one who does not honor the victims and the values of coexistence can serve as a guarantor of the rights of communities.

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Ratko Mladić, the former Bosnian Serb military commander, died on Thursday at the age of 83 at the UN detention center in The Hague while serving a life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 1992–95 conflict in Bosnia.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić criticized the UN tribunal, accusing it of “uncivilized conduct” after it refused to allow Mladić to be transferred to Serbia, where he had wished to die. According to Vučić, Belgrade has still not received information on whether the former military leader’s body will be handed over to the Serbian authorities.

“We have no information from The Hague,” Vučić told reporters. He added that Serbia would help organize a dignified funeral ceremony for Mladić if his family requested it.

“Now we see that The Hague wanted Mladić to die in prison,” the Serbian president said.

“They did not allow the general to die in Serbia, where he wanted to die. This is uncivilized conduct, unprecedented and without justification,” he added.

The death of the so-called “Butcher of Bosnia” came several days after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) rejected a request by his family and the Serbian government to transfer him to a military hospital in Belgrade, where he would receive treatment.

The UN tribunal had stated that Mladić’s health condition was critical but stable, and that he was receiving appropriate treatment at the detention center in The Hague.

Serbian authorities are waiting to learn when The Hague will hand over the body, Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujic said, adding earlier that Mladić would be buried “with the military and state honors he deserves.”

According to reports in the Serbian media, Mladić had requested to be buried in a Belgrade cemetery next to his daughter Ana, who died in 1994.

Meanwhile, the tribunal has opened an investigation into the circumstances of his death. The judge appointed to lead the investigation spent around three hours at the detention center but made no statements to reporters.

Ratko Mladić was one of the three main figures in the Serbian camp, along with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević and former political leader of the Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadžić, during the period when the former Yugoslavia was engulfed by massacres following the fall of communism.

The conflict in Bosnia claimed around 100,000 lives and forced 2.2 million people to flee their homes.

In Srebrenica, Serbian forces under Ratko Mladić’s command executed 8,000 Bosnian Muslims who had taken refuge in an area that was supposed to be protected by the UN.

Vučić, who served as a minister under Slobodan Milošević’s regime in the 1990s and was once known as an ultranationalist, has in recent years presented himself as a pro-European reformer while maintaining close relations with Russia and China.

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Ratko Mladić, the former commander of the Main Staff of the Army of Republika Srpska in Bosnia, known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” has died in The Hague. He was convicted of war crimes in Bosnia and was directly responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica, Albeu.com reports.

According to Serbian media, Serbia has initiated proceedings through the competent authorities to fulfill Ratko Mladić’s final wish to be buried beside his daughter Ana.

The news comes after it was announced that Mladić had died in The Hague following several months of health problems.

“Sources say that Mladić will be buried with full state and military honors,” said Informer editor Dragan J. Vučićević during the Special Program on Informer television, as reported by Kurir.

He wanted to be buried beside his daughter

His daughter Ana held a special place in Ratko Mladić’s private life. She died in 1994 at the age of 24.

According to the official version, Ana Mladić committed suicide at the family home in Belgrade. However, Ratko Mladić never accepted this version and claimed for years that his daughter had been murdered.

Ratko Mladić spent the final years of his life in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence. His health had been extremely poor in recent months, while his family and representatives of Serbia repeatedly requested that he be treated in Serbia, but those requests were rejected by the Hague Tribunal.

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