BELGRADE: Bosnia’s foreign minister on Tuesday expelled two Serbian diplomats and accused Belgrade of crossing ‘every red line’ after several of its officials attended a funeral for war criminal Ratko Mladic.
At least six Serbian ministers were among thousands that attended Monday’s funeral service which openly praised Mladic, who died last month in The Hague while serving a life sentence for war crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
The ‘honour’ given to ‘war hero’, in the words of a Serbian spokesperson, also drew condemnation from outside the Balkans, with EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa labelling the attendance of Serbian officials deeply regrettable.
‘Serbia’s path into the European Union requires an unequivocal commitment to fundamental European values and historical truth,’ EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X.
Bosnia’s foreign minister Elmedin Konakovic said he had ordered the defence envoy and an adviser of Serbia’s intelligence service to leave the country.
Earlier he said he would recall Sarajevo’s embassy staff from Serbia in an attempt to cut diplomatic ties to the ‘lowest possible level’.
‘They crossed every red line with what they did yesterday, the day before, and in the days leading up to the reception,’ Konakovic told a press conference in Sarajevo.
Despite Mladic’s convictions, Serb nationalists and pro-government media still embrace him as a hero.
Mourners wore shirts emblazoned with his face and held banners praising the former general during Monday’s event. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who did not attend the funeral, has rejected allegations of glorifying Mladic and insisted that the service was organised by the family, not the state.-AFP