European Greens urge EPP to expel Serbia’s SNS

The European Greens are demanding that the European People’s Party expel Serbia’s ruling Serbian Progressive Party after Belgrade announced state and military honors for convicted war criminal Ratko Mladić.

The call followed Serbian Justice Minister Nenad Vujić’s announcement that Mladić would receive the honors at his burial. The European Greens described the decision as an extraordinary affront to victims of the Srebrenica genocide and war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The fact that a convicted genocidaire is to be honored by the Serbian state is beyond shameful. Today, SNS is still an associate member of the European People’s Party,” European Green Party co-chair Ciarán Cuffe said. He questioned the EPP’s scrutiny of the Serbian party, asking what its process was for if it could not act after the announcement.

The Greens also pointed to an investigation announced by EPP President Manfred Weber on September 25, 2025, into the role of Aleksandar Vučić’s party and the EPP’s internal review process. Almost a year later, they said, the EPP had not publicly announced the findings, while SNS remained listed on the EPP website as an associate member.

Mladić was convicted by a United Nations tribunal of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He had been serving a life sentence in The Hague when he died on August 27.

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The fact that a convicted genocidaire is to be honored by the Serbian state is beyond shameful. Today, SNS is still an associate member of the European People’s Party. If the EPP cannot act when a government linked to its associated party announces state and military honours for a convicted war criminal, then what exactly was its scrutiny process for?