The announcement by representatives of the Serbian authorities that Ratko Mladić will be buried with the highest state honours represents an unacceptable act of institutional glorification of a man convicted by a final judgement of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. By taking such a step, the regime will renounce the Serbia that must distinguish heroism from crime, military honour from revenge, and patriotism from hatred.

It also raises a serious question of a potential violation of the Law on the Serbian Armed Forces, Article 185 of which stipulates that a professional member of the armed forces or a member of the reserve holding a military rank loses that rank if sentenced to an unconditional term of imprisonment of more than one year, together with all rights attached to that rank.

State honours for Ratko Mladić would be a grave insult to the victims of the Srebrenica genocide and their families, to the citizens of besieged and shelled Sarajevo, and to all other victims of the crimes for which he was finally convicted. Such honours would not show respect for Serbian victims either, as their suffering must never be used to justify crimes committed against others. There is no patriotism in glorifying crimes committed in the name of one’s own people.

Such an act would be an assault on good-neighbourly relations in the region and an open repudiation of Serbia’s European path. There can be no credible European path for a state that institutionally glorifies a person convicted of genocide. A government that does so is not confronting the past in the service of reconciliation; it is preparing society to repeat its most dangerous historical patterns.

The European Movement in Serbia demands from the Government of the Republic of Serbia to abandon plans to accord state honours to Ratko Mladić.