Plenković sharply rebukes EU leaders over Mladić: “It was their mistake, and I will tell them clearly”

Andrej Plenković accused the European Union’s leadership of responding too weakly to Ratko Mladić’s funeral in Belgrade, where senior Serbian and Republika Srpska officials appeared alongside military honors and church rites.

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be there and not be there

The Croatian prime minister said the event showed an attempt by Serbia’s authorities to “be there and not be there.” A large number of Serbian ministers attended the farewell, along with Željka Cvijanović, a member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s presidency, Banja Luka Mayor Draško Stanivuković and former Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik.

Plenković described them as “a whole range of actors who are part of the political establishment.” Mladić, convicted by the Hague tribunal, was buried in a family tomb at Belgrade’s Topčider Cemetery. Thousands took part in the procession and funeral ceremony.

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a whole range of actors who are part of the political establishment

The European Commission responded that the ceremony had not involved official state honors. “We heard that a state funeral was planned, but that did not happen,” commission spokeswoman Paula Pinho said. When journalists questioned that assessment, citing the involvement of state institutions, the army, ministers and the state flag, Pinho said Serbia had the right to decide how to organize the funeral and that the commission had made its position clear.

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We heard that a state funeral was planned, but that did not happen

Plenković called it “very bad” that the EU executive had reacted only through a spokeswoman. He said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas should also have responded. “It was their mistake, and I will tell them clearly,” he said.

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It was their mistake, and I will tell them clearly