“Milorad Dodik for the poor” also wants a day of mourning for Mladić

Draško Stanivuković, the mayor of Banja Luka, has drawn sharp criticism after expressing what the commentary calls undisguised emotion toward Ratko Mladić, the convicted war criminal and genocide offender.

The article portrays the episode as another political blunder by Stanivuković and links it to earlier remarks and controversies. It says he invoked the Republika Srpska Krajina in Gračac earlier this year and later complained about Croatian police whenever he entered Croatia.

Responding to criticism and complaints, Stanivuković reportedly dismissed the issue. “I won’t even scratch myself because of it. What kind of insolent term is that, glorification? What does that even mean to them? We only stated the truth. Ratko Mladić was a general who did not choose his profession, but in the worst times the profession chose him to defend our homeland and country,” he said.

The commentary says Stanivuković also proposed that the day of Mladić’s funeral be declared a day of mourning “in all Serbian lands,” without specifying which territories that phrase included. It labels him “Milorad Dodik for the poor” and presents his trajectory as a rapid shift from young political hope to a smaller version of Dodik.

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I won’t even scratch myself because of it. What kind of insolent term is that, glorification? What does that even mean to them? We only stated the truth. Ratko Mladić was a general who did not choose his profession, but in the worst times the profession chose him to defend our homeland and country.