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🇸🇪 Sweden /Elections & Politics

A country that honors a genocidaire has no place in the EU

From Dagens Nyheter · () Swedish

Translated from Swedish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources Context piece
  • The editorial says Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity, is treated as a national hero by many in Serbia and Republika Srpska.
  • It contrasts public tributes to Mladic with victims’ view that his death cannot heal the wounds caused by his forces.
  • The editorial links the glorification of Mladic to concerns over Serbia’s human rights record, rule of law and stalled EU accession process.

Much of the world sees Ratko Mladic as a genocidaire. Large parts of Serbia, however, see him as a national hero. That contrast is the starting point of Dagens Nyheter’s editorial, which argues that a country honoring a convicted war criminal has no place in the European Union.

Mladic died the previous week in a prison in The Hague, where he was serving a life sentence for genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Known as the “Butcher of Bosnia,” he was held responsible for the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, which killed 10,000 people, and for the 1995 Srebrenica genocide, in which 8,000 Muslim boys and men were executed.

with all the state and military honors he deserves

· Serbian governmentThe government described how Mladic should be buried.

For surviving victims, news of his death brought no healing. In Serbia and Republika Srpska, the Serbian enclave in Bosnia, the reaction was markedly different. Flags flew at half-staff, politicians and private citizens paid tribute, and the Serbian government said Mladic should be buried “with all the state and military honors he deserves.”

Mladic fought for a long time against those monsters at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague.

· Vojislav SeseljSeselj praised Mladic while criticizing the tribunal.

Vojislav Seselj, an ultranationalist politician also suspected of war crimes, told the press: “Mladic fought for a long time against those monsters at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague.” At a Partizan Belgrade match, supporters displayed portraits honoring Mladic. Leaders of the student movement, which has protested the government for years, also joined the chorus.

The Serbian branch of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights says the reaction shows how little Serbia has done to accept responsibility for its history. The editorial calls it especially troubling that young people who present themselves as the country’s democratic hope appear equally indoctrinated. It points to the EU debate as well: several member states rejected progress in Serbia’s accession talks over concerns including human rights and the rule of law, while the European Commission favored moving forward to encourage reforms.

among the most abhorrent crimes humanity has witnessed

· Alphons OrieThe trial judge’s description of Mladic’s crimes was cited in the editorial.
About this summary

Originally published by Dagens Nyheter in Swedish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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